‘It’s a political trap,’ Civil societies drag Hichilema over alleged restrictive Terms of Reference for constitution review
By AUGUSTINE SICHULA
A coalition of ten civil society organizations has expressed strong reservations over the Terms of Reference (TORs) issued by the Secretary to the Cabinet for the Technical Committee tasked with drafting constitutional amendments.
Acting consortium Chairperson, Solomon Ngoma, said the TORs deviate from President Hakainde Hichilema’s earlier commitment to a broad-based and people-driven constitutional review process.
Ngoma, in a statement issued in Lusaka on Tuesday, stated that in both “substance and intent,” the TORs represent a repackaged version of the controversial Bill 7.
“Rather than embodying the spirit of an open, people-driven reform process, they reflect a narrow and restrictive approach that risks undermining public confidence in this critical national undertaking,” he said.
He added that while some elements of Bill 7 raised legitimate constitutional issues worthy of review, the consortium had opposed the framing of certain provisions for their undemocratic nature.
“We are deeply concerned that Government has imposed restrictive TORs that limit the Committee’s scope and appear to preclude the introduction of other necessary constitutional reforms in the final Bill,” Ngoma stated.
He said the current TORs appear designed to facilitate short-term political changes rather than enduring constitutional improvements, warning that the approach risks reducing the Technical Committee to “an executor of a pre-determined agenda rather than an impartial facilitator of a genuine constitutional amendment process.”
Ngoma further emphasized that a credible constitutional reform process must “go beyond selective political adjustments” and instead address long-standing national priorities such as the separation of powers, judicial independence, and stronger governance institutions — issues on which Zambians have “consistently expressed consensus.”
He also raised concern over the absence of a clear and transparent timeframe for the review process, describing the omission as one that “undermines legitimacy and erodes public trust.”
“The Zambian people deserve a transparent, predictable roadmap for constitutional reform and not an ambiguous process,” he said.
Ngoma appealed to President Hichilema to revise the TORs to allow broader public and institutional input and ensure that citizen and stakeholder submissions are reflected in the final draft Bill.
He urged members of the Technical Committee to reflect deeply on their constitutional duty and seek “a broader, legitimate mandate before commencing their work.”
Ngoma also called on the Secretary to the Cabinet to release a clear timeline for the review process consistent with the consortium’s earlier recommendation for a phased two-year approach, and to “establish an inclusive framework for public consultation that reaches citizens at all levels, not merely a privileged few.”
Similarly, former Kasenengwa Constituency lawmaker Sensio Banda described the TORs for the Technical Committee on Amendments to the Constitution of Zambia, 2025, as “a political trap” rather than a plan for genuine reform.
Banda said the TORs were designed to give the ruling UPND’s agenda the false appearance of a people-driven process.
“The structural flaws in the TOR clearly show an intent to manage the outcome, not to truly listen to the people’s will. This exercise isn’t about consultation; it’s about control. The Committee has been set up as a mere rubber stamp for the Executive’s wishes,” he said.
He noted that the most worrying feature of the TORs was Item 2.3, which instructs the Committee to “draft proposed constitutional amendments and provide justifications for each proposal.”
“The Committee’s true role is not to report on public consensus but to produce a draft bill that gives partisan proposals a technical look of neutrality,” he said.
Banda added that Item 3 of the TORs, which lists subject areas such as the term of Members of Parliament and Ministers, nominated MPs, and by-elections, reflected “areas of direct and critical concern to the governing political structure.”
Meanwhile, Alliance for Community Action Executive Director, Laura Miti, wrote on her Facebook page on October 21, 2025:
“The President should have said — I will set up a Technical Committee to receive submissions on Bill 7. That is what I want to amend so I will let the people make submissions on it.
“Nothing stopped him from telling us the truth.
“Instead, he waxed lyrical about consulting the country on the Constitution.
Then, his people locked the ToRs to only Bill 7, preventing any submissions about what matters to anyone else. That is disrespecting citizens..
“Tell us the truth. If we disagree, we disagree.”
Credit: Zambia Monitor
Dribbling 20 million Zambians
First it was “no terms of reference”.
Terms of reference are released, it is now TOR are restrictive.
If the energy used to criticise every single step of the process of transforming the recommendations of bill 7 were converted into electricity, there would be no load shedding and Zambia would be exporting power to neighbouring countries for free. We are a very negative community to our own detriment. We are our own worst enemies. Worse than any foreign invasion that can be recruited against us.