WHAT IS THE RUSH MR. PRESIDENT? THERE CAN BE NO SHORT-CUTS TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW PROCESS!!
15th March 2025
The New Heritage Party would like to join the many patriotic Zambians, individuals as well as organisations, that have expressed outrage and concern at the attempt by President Hichilema and the UPND to bulldoze through amendments to our constitution, without following due process and without the involvement of the Zambians that own the constitution.
Additionally, the New Heritage Party wish to remind the President that the Zambian Constitution starts with the following words; “We, the people of Zambia” and not ‘I Hakainde Hichilema, being the President of Zambia’. What this means is that it is the people of Zambia that ‘own’ the constitution and not the President. It also means that, it is the people of Zambia that make the amendments to the constitution through a process accepted and approved by them.
From the previous constitutional reviews, it can clearly be seen that the processes for each successive review, have been thorough, based on clear terms of reference and a team appointed as a Constitution Review Commission or a National Constitutional Conference and whose appointment process was made public. In addition, these review processes have been very inclusive and transparent whilst not being rushed.
Concerns Over Secretive Constitutional Reform Process
New Heritage Party is sounding an alarm regarding the UPND government’s secretive approach to a constitutional reform. The recent announcement by President Hakainde Hichilema has left many Zambians in the dark. This is not as it ought to be.
Our Concerns
• Lack of Consultation: The government has failed to engage key stakeholders, including the youth, women, traditional leaders, and the general public, in the drafting of the constitution.
• An unclear agenda: The government has not told us which specific articles or clauses they want to amend, what weaknesses they’ve identified, or what problems they’re trying to solve. We are left wondering what really needs to be cured.
• Risk of Manipulation: We fear that the government’s true intention is to manipulate the constitution for political gain, rather than to genuinely improve the lives of Zambians.
Our Demands
1. Release the Draft Constitution: We urge the government to make the draft constitution publicly available for review and feedback.
2. Introduce an inclusive consultative process: We demand that the government engage in broad-based consultations with the public to ensure that any amendments reflect the will and aspirations of the people.
3. Be transparent and accountable: We expect the government to be transparent in their actions and decisions, and to be held accountable for any attempts to manipulate the constitution for political gain.
The New Heritage Party Position
We, as New Heritage Party, have a deep-seated lack of trust in this incompetent and corrupt UPND government and its leadership and though being fully cognisant of the many areas of contention and inadequacies that subsist in the constitution, totally reject any attempt to amend or in anyway, tamper with the current constitution before the 2026 general elections. It is very clear that the announcement by the President to amend the same, is ill conceived and based on his desperate but futile attempt to stay in power beyond 2026. There have been a series of clutching at straws manoeuvres by this government, designed to help them prolong their unwelcome stay by pre-rigging the 2026 election including attempts on manufacturing a favourable demographic using Zambia Statistical Agency as well as the ECZ conducting dubious night time registration of voters in UPND strongholds.
Conclusion
It is worth noting that the numerous attempts to draft a constitution that would stand the test of time, have been elusive largely due to the fact that each successive government retained the power to reject or accept the peoples’ recommendations notwithstanding that the lead up and actual prior process was inclusive, consultative and transparent.
Wisdom dictates that lessons be learnt from past experiences, where billions of Kwacha have been spent over constitution review processes that have yielded less than what Zambians expected or hoped for but which were, nevertheless, more inclusive and transparent than the current one. The nation can not afford to waste more time and money on arrogantly conceived but harebrained attempts at perfecting the constitution.
We call upon all patriotic Zambians and organisations to stand up as you have always done whenever any government or president with ill intent tried to meddle with our; constitution.
CHISHALA KATEKA
President – New Heritage Party