JOINT STATEMENT BY OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTIES AND CIVIL SOCIETY ON THE ANNOUNCED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS

JOINT STATEMENT BY OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTIES AND CIVIL SOCIETY ON THE ANNOUNCED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS

We, the undersigned opposition political parties and civil society representatives, have convened this press briefing to present our unified stance on the constitutional amendment process initiated by the UPND government. We consider this issue to be of national importance and want to make our position clear with the foregoing.

i) Rejection of Any Constitutional Amendments before the 2026 General Election

The preamble to our constitution states that “WE THE PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA” in whom the sovereign authority vests and in which may be exercised directly by “we the people.” The Constitution vests ultimate power in the People of Zambia and therefore any process towards amending the constitution must begin with the people. Given the unfortunate manner in which the issues of Constitutional reform has recently been handled by the current administration, we therefore choose to directly exercise the right given to us under Article 5(1) of the Constitution and reject any ammendment to the current Constitution before the 2026 election.

Since the Constitution belongs to WE the people of Zambia, it, therefore follows, that its review must follow an inclusive, legitimate, and transparent process. History provides ample guidance on how constitutional reviews have been conducted, as evidenced by previous commissions. These have included the Chona, Mvunga, Mwanakatwe, Mung’omba, and Silungwe Technical Committees, as well as the Mwanalushi National Dialogue Forum (NDF). These processes, despite their varied outcomes, were characterized by structured roadmaps, stakeholder consultations, and legitimacy conferred by an Act of Parliament before any amendments were even proposed. 

Regrettably, the current UPND government has abandoned this precedent. There is no clear roadmap nor a legitimized framework for dialogue. A defined scope of work, does not exist neither has timeline for the exercise been given. Instead, the process is being controlled by the Executive and the ruling elite, excluding the very people for whom the Constitution exists. This is not only illegal but also deeply immoral.

Furthermore, the government failed to allocate funds for this exercise in the 2025 national budget. This raises serious concerns and a number of troubling questions: Is this constitutional amendment process an afterthought? What has suddenly triggered the government’s appetite for constitutional change? Given that there are no urgent national demands for amendments, we suspect that this move is driven by self-serving political interests rather than genuine governance reforms.

Beyond procedural concerns, we must acknowledge the real crises affecting Zambians today. Citizens are struggling with skyrocketing food prices, crippling power outages, soaring unemployment, a rapidly depreciating national currency, record-high fuel prices, and an overall cost-of-living crisis that is pushing millions into hardship. Instead of prioritizing these urgent issues, the government is focusing on constitutional amendments that serve no immediate purpose for the ordinary Zambian.

ii) Joint Opposition Statement on Constitutional Reform in Conformity with Other Independent Voices.

We, in agreement with the statement which was issued by the three Church mother bodies, the Law Association of Zambia, Civil Society Organizations, and all well-meaning citizens, firmly assert that any constitutional changes should be postponed until after the 2026 general elections. It is imperative that such reforms be undertaken free from political influence and with the full participation of all key stakeholders.

The integrity of our nation’s constitutional framework must not be compromised by rushed or politically motivated amendments. We urge all relevant authorities to uphold democratic principles by ensuring that any constitutional review process is inclusive, transparent, and conducted at an appropriate time—after the elections—when the voices of all Zambians can be heard and respected.

We stand united in our commitment to protecting the integrity of our constitution and the will of the people.

iii) A Deceitful Approach to Constitutional Reform is unacceptable

After months of denial, Presidential Spokesperson Clayson Hamasaka finally confirmed on Hot FM Radio on 13 March 2025 that the government has already drafted a constitutional amendment document, which will soon be presented to the public. This revelation exposes the government’s deceitful approach to governance and constitutional reform.

As a result of the whole process being entangled in a web of lies, on the 17th March 2025 the Minister of Justice Princess Kasune has contradicted Clayson Hamasaka and even the Republican President (who had both said there already was a draft) when she stated that there was no draft constitution as of now. Princess Kasune says there will be a road map provided soon whilst on the next day 18th March 2025, Foreign Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe states that the process started in 2021 and was now in last stages and there was no need for further road map and going back to gather the people’s thoughts.

This shows that even amongst the ranks of the executive there is confusion and no consensus as to what the status of Constitutional reforms are. However, behind all these lies and apparent confusion is a systematic attempt to change the Constitution in favour of the UPND.

We have seen repetitive attempts by President Hakainde and the UPND government to sneak in constitutional amendments at every opportunity they think they can get away with it. A year after they formed government, in 2022, there were orchestrated suggestions from the UPND to change from 5 to a 7 year presidential term, to do away with a term limit for the Republican President, to remove both the running mate clause as well as the 50% plus 1 requirement. These were all suggestions that promoted neither the basic tenants of democracy nor people’s participation in the governance of the country. This process of constitutional reform, through then Minister of Justice, Mulambo Haimbe, were quickly and unceremoniously shelved after it become clear that the Church, civil society, political parties and citizens  in general did not want to be deceived by being brought on board to legitimize a none consensual and a none transparent process. The UPND wanted a process in which government control was guaranteed. There was an immediate national outcry against this dastardly attempt to pull the wool over the people’s eyes. The people’s cries were so loud and clear that President Hakainde retreated.

The next significant attempt was on 13th September 2024 when during the annual report by the President to the National Assembly on the progress made in the application of the national values and principles. In his address President Hakainde indicated that there was need to ammend the constitution and suggested that presidential elections could be postponed for up to even seven or eight years. He stated that this was justification for why he would ammend the Constitution. The lacunae was the wolf in sheep’s clothing. Similar to the other two previous attempt, there was an immediate national outcry against this dastardly attempt to ‘pull wool’ over the people’s eyes. The people’s cries against were so loud and clear that President Hakainde, once again, retreated; a clear temporal retreat.

The latest attempt by President Hakainde is under the guise of proportional representation and delimitation of constituencies. After having failed to pull the wool over our eyes or sneak the wolf in sheep’s clothing in, President Hakainde is now trying delimitation and proportional representation as a Trojan horse to sneak wrecking ball Constitutional amendments in.

If there is one thing the Zambian people have always rallied round is to jointly fight and oppose attempts at constitutional manipulation as is being attempted now. It is clear that President Hakainde is engaging in serial deceit as he tries to molest our constitution and good governance. He must be stopped.

We strongly urge the government to abandon its unconstitutional plans. It is a highly dangerous and narrow minded undertaking that would destroy this country.

iv) A Better Proposal for Increased Representation of Youth, Women, and Persons with Disabilities

The UPND government seeks and attempts to justify its push for constitutional amendments by citing the need to increase youth, women, and persons with disabilities’ representation in Parliament. We reject this justification as misleading. The current Constitution, under Article 259, already mandates the President to ensure equal representation of these groups in public appointments. The problem is not the Constitution—it is the government’s failure to respect and implement its provisions.

If the true goal is to enhance the political participation of these marginalized groups, we propose a more effective and immediate alternative. We call upon all political parties to ensure enactment under Article 60 of the Constitution which envisages that there will be subsidiary legislation to make provisions for regulation of political parties. Article 60(2) (a) says a political party shall promote the values and principles specified in the Constitution.

To ensure the enactment of subsidiary legislation to give effect to PART V REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE of the Constitution which says in Article 45. (1) (d) the electoral systems shall ensure gender equity in the National Assembly or council. We implore the ruling UPND to join this commitment if they are sincere about fostering diversity by enacting the Act envisaged by Article 60. We stand ready to sign a formal accord and engage in discussions on the implementation of this proposal, which would immediately increase representation without subjecting the Constitution to partisan alterations.

This would guarantee a significant increase of women and youth representation in the National Assembly without the need for constitutional amendments.

v) A Clarion Call to all Zambians to defend the Constitution and the country

It is increasingly becoming clear that the UPND government is adamant about effecting constitutional changes against the will and participation of the people. 
The time has come for the people of Zambia to rise up and defend the constitutional reform process as well as their country.

We pledge to stand with, lead and defend the people against the UPND government’s undemocratic maneuver. We also call upon the security forces— the police, intelligence services, and the military—to remain loyal to the Constitution, to the Zambian masses, not to individual politicians, whether in government or opposition. We commend the immediate past Zambia Army Commander, Lieutenant General Dennis Sitali Alibuzwi, for upholding the army’s non-partisan character. His valedictory remarks serve as a warning against any attempts to politicize the security services.

To the men and women in uniform, we urge you to reject any unconstitutional orders to suppress peaceful actions by the Zambian people. The right to peaceful protest and other actions in defence of democracy and the Constitution is enshrined in our Constitution and must be protected at all costs.

vi) Conclusion

It is not too late for the UPND government to correct its course. We urge them to abandon their unconstitutional plans and prioritize real issues affecting Zambians. Any amendments to the Constitution must be undertaken through an inclusive and legitimate process, free from political coercion and timed appropriately—after the 2026 elections. Constitutional changes must reflect the collective will of the people, not the agenda of those in power. As opposition parties and civil society, we remain committed to defending Zambia’s democracy, ensuring that any changes to our supreme law occur through broad-based consensus, and resisting any attempts to undermine the will of the people, particularly as the country heads towards an election.

We the people of Zambia therefore reiterate our categorical rejection of any attempt to amend the constitution before the 2026 elections. Furthermore, we affirm the biblical verse in Psalm 133 (1) which says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity”

Our message to President Hakainde Hichilema is to take note, that WE THE PEOPLE are gathered in unity against all machinations to defile our constitution. We therefor implore his administration to focus on mort urgent matters of greater relevance to the immediate concerns and struggles of our people. In the presence of an escalating debt problem, and if there are sufficient resources to undertake rushed constitutional process, it is our firm resolve that those resources are better utilized in addressing the catastrophic environmental disaster of enormous volumes of acid waste spillage into the Mwambeshi and Kafue river

Let money be spent on saving thousands of lives negatively impacted by this preventable disaster and ensure that our rivers do not die. Let us expend scarce national resources to protect our wildlife in those rivers, and ensure continued food resources to our hard hit people on the Copperbelt and downstream of those rivers. If there is sufficient resources to spend, let it first be spent on alleviating the poverty situation caused by the escalating cost of living and the laod-sheding thrust upon us by incompetence of governance by the current administration. This is our absolute clarion call of action.

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Issued on behalf of opposition political parties and civil society organizations.

22nd March 2025 at Chrisma Hotel.

Signed:

[List of signatories]