OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA

Mr. President, Your Cyber Crimes Law is a Digital Noose Around Our Democracy.

Your Excellency, President Hakainde Hichilema
State House, Lusaka

Sir,

I write to you not in whispers, nor with trembling hands, but with boldness, clarity, and conviction as a concerned citizen, a defender of liberty, and a champion of justice.

Before I proceed, let me remind you and the entire nation of the sacred words enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2016, which solemnly declares:

PREAMBLE

We, the people of Zambia:

ACKNOWLEDGING the supremacy of God Almighty;

DECLARE the Republic a Christian Nation while upholding a person’s right to freedom of conscience, belief or religion;

UPHOLD the human rights and fundamental freedoms of every person;

AFFIRM the equal worth of women and men and their right to freely participate in, determine and build a sustainable political, legal, economic and social order;

RECOGNISE and uphold the multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural character of our Nation and our right to manage our affairs and resources sustainably in a devolved system of governance;

RESOLVE to ensure that Zambia is governed under a system of democracy which is participatory, inclusive and accountable;

CONFIRM the republican character of the State and the authority of the people of Zambia to govern themselves;

DO HEREBY SOLEMNLY ADOPT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

Article 1: Supremacy of the Constitution

1. This Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic of Zambia and any other written law, customary law and customary practice that is inconsistent with its provisions is void to the extent of the inconsistency.

2. An act or omission that contravenes this Constitution is illegal.

Article 2: Defence of the Constitution

Every person has the right and duty to:

(a) defend this Constitution; and
(b) resist or prevent a person from overthrowing, suspending or illegally abrogating this Constitution.

And so, in full exercise of that duty, I raise my voice against the Cyber Crimes Act No. 4 of 2025 a law that cloaks itself in the language of protection, yet operates as a tool of digital oppression.

This Act is not a shield against cybercrime it is a sword against our freedom. Beneath the guise of security, you have signed into law a dangerous instrument a digital whip meant to lash dissenters, silence whistleblowers, and cripple free expression.

Are we to believe that the man who once stood in opposition, the man who once roared against tyranny and swore allegiance to democracy, now stands as the architect of state surveillance criminalizing conversations, spying on private lives, and punishing truth tellers with sentences of up to fifteen years?

What kind of Republic do you seek to build, Sir? One where liberty is trampled for convenience? Where law enforcement officers are given sweeping powers to seize devices, monitor digital activity, and raid citizens’ privacy all without adequate judicial oversight?

Section 22 of this Act, which criminalizes the publication of false or embarrassing information, is a dagger to the heart of free speech. Who defines what is false your Cabinet? Shall truth now be judged by its comfort to the ruling elite?

By criminalizing the mere possession of unauthorized data, you have launched an assault on whistleblowers the same brave Zambians who once exposed corruption and protected the public interest. What exactly are you afraid they might expose now?

Let me be unequivocal, this law is not about cybercrime it is about control. It is not a firewall it is a muzzle. And it is no accident that the sharpest claws of this legislation scratch at journalists, activists, and political critics.

You came into power on the promise of a new dawn. But this law casts a long, authoritarian shadow over the very democracy that carried you there.

We will not be silenced.
We will not be intimidated.
We will not surrender our freedoms at the altar of your paranoia.

We, the people, guided by the Constitution, shall stand. We shall resist. We shall defend our right to speak, to question, and to hold power accountable even when that power is yours.

Repeal this Act. Or history will not remember you as the liberator you once claimed to be, but as the enforcer of Zambia’s digital dictatorship. A President who failed to fix the economy, failed to reduce the cost of living, failed to create job opportunity for the youths and many instead found it necessary to pass laws that gag, monitor, and jail the very people crying out for solutions.

Yours, in defiance of tyranny and the Constitution,

Abraham Simpamba
Together We Can
Ichalo Bantu!