Mr President, the people have not agreed to amend Zambia’s Constitution ahead of the 2026 elections

The ruling United Party for National Development (UPND), in particular its leader President Hakainde Hichilema (HH), would do well to listen to Zambians’ views on amendments to the Constitution without the consent of the people.

Zambians found out about the draft amendments to the Constitution just a few days ago, when the president officiated at a Women’s Day event. Hichilema said: “The Zambian people have now agreed to amend the Constitution.” This was a shocking statement because most Zambians were not aware of its existence, much less the process of how the government came up with such a document. 

Later on, Hichilema doubled down on this issue during Youth Day activities, saying the youths have agreed to such constitutional amendments before the 2026 general elections. 

This is nothing but dishonesty on the part of HH and his government, because he knows too well that neither himself nor his government have consulted the young people of this country regarding any amendments to the Constitution. 

This is the same Constitution under which HH came into power in 2021, so what is wrong with it now? Why the rush to amend it just before the 2026 elections? If this Constitution was good in 2021, and the government sustained it for the past four years in power, what has suddenly gone wrong with it? And now this regime wants to amend the Constitution without the full participation of all Zambians either through a referendum or a constitutional review commission. 

The Hichilema administration would do well to be honest with the people for once, by establishing a modus vivendi — especially with those people who disagree with the regime and perhaps did not vote for the UPND in the previous elections. This is vital to the restoration of public trust and confidence. 

The argument being advanced by the president as to why Zambia should amend the Constitution does not hold water. The man wants us to believe that he is doing this for the women and youths, in the context of bringing proportional representation (PR) to parliament. He is on public record arguing that he needs a specific number of seats reserved for women and youth in parliament through what he calls a PR system — except he is confusing a PR system with a quota system of governance. 

Mr President Sir, in a PR system, no parliamentary seats are reserved for any specific group of people. Instead, parliamentary seats are allocated to political parties based on their performance and the percentage votes acquired in an election. And usually people vote for a political party and not for a candidate. President Hichilema, with all due respect, it appears that you have not paid attention to the details of what constitutes a PR system and how it differs from a quota system. An apple is not an orange, and an orange cannot be an apple, even though both are fruit. 

If HH really meant what he said, why didn’t his party, the UPND, have more women and youths as candidates in the general elections of 2021, particularly in its stronghold areas? Because, during that time, the wind of change was blowing countrywide and anyone who participated in that election under the banner of the UPND stood a chance to win. He and his party should have been the first people to champion more women to contest as MPs, mayors or council chairpersons and councillors. Instead, women given nothing but tokenism when he hand-picked Madam Mutale Nalumango as a running mate. That was the illusion of the inclusion of women.

Even after winning the 2021 election, the Constitution empowers the president to nominate eight MPs. How many women and youths did HH nominate? Instead, he recycled old recycled male politicians and gave only two of the eight seats to women and none to youths. 

The truth is HH has seen the writing on the wall and knows too well that he has to get rid of the 50+1 clause in the Constitution if he is to win in 2026. 

Hichilema’s schemes must be stopped. He should instead deal with the economic hardships that are pressing our people and not obsess about returning power in 2026. 

To the young people of Zambia, please do not allow yourselves to be used and abused by this regime. This man promised you heaven on Earth before he was elected, but he has failed to address the high levels of unemployment. He has failed to create sustainable jobs and his government has even blamed you for not being productive. 

Hichilema should learn from his counterpart, President Duma Boko of Botswana, who is a man already walking the talk. He appointed many young people and women to key ministerial positions, including a 26-year-old woman as a cabinet minister. Unlike HH, Boko also appointed many young people and women as diplomats.

Hichilema has said he is only bringing up this issue of amending the Constitution now because he has been so busy dealing with debt restructuring and fixing the economy. Is the president really serious? Does he mean these issues are mutually exclusive and can only be done one at a time? And what economy has he fixed? The young people should not let Hichilema get away with his plot. The Socialist Party of Zambia had women and youths as candidates for public office in 2021, a record that the UPND cannot match. This agenda of amending the Constitution is not about women or the youth, it’s about HH weakening the supreme law of the land and changing clauses to favour him in the 2026 general elections. 

Last, the UPND government should know that Zambians can forgive them for many things that are wrong in the country. But the one thing that the people will never forgive is the UPND going ahead and messing around with the Constitution. They should learn from their predecessor, the Patriotic Front government and the fall of Bill 10, which aimed to remove parliamentary oversight over the executive, which would have resulted in a constitutional dictatorship. Your Excellency Dr Hichilema, you don’t have to be a genius to know that Zambians are very sensitive when it comes to amending the Constitution, just look to history for reference. 

Aaron Ng’ambi is a geopolitical analyst and columnist, leadership instructor and a social entrepreneur. aaronngambi@yahoo.com