Proposed Constitutional Changes Embody Long Overdue Reform and Modernisation

Following an official visit to Zambia in January of this year, UN special rapporteur Irene Khan, observed that “important steps have been taken to promote freedom of expression” since Hakainde Hichilema assumed the presidency in 2021. She particularly noted the Access to Information Act of 2024, which furthered government transparency and afforded journalists more freedom to criticise the government.

It is surprising then, that President Hichilema’s detractors are so keen to characterise his proposed constitutional reforms as a cynical and antidemocratic move to consolidate his grip on power. The reforms concern constituency delimitation and electoral reform, with the stated aim of bolstering the parliamentary representation of Zambia’s rural regions, and ensuring gender equality in the National Assembly, through the possible imposition of a quota aimed at increasing the scandalously low proportion of women legislators, currently just 15.4%.

Opponents of the UPND government, particularly those associated with the PF, insist however that these are not the real reasons. This is despite repeated assurances, most recently from State House head of communications Clayson Hamasaka, that the President has “no intention whatsoever to remove the 50%+1 requirement, remove the term limit, or increase the term limit”. It also comes despite the fact that, due to both honest intentions and political necessity, the amendment process will involve extensive consultation with various stakeholders and community leaders nationwide.

Justice Minister Princess Kasune has stressed the inclusive nature of the process, arguing that it is not led by the President alone: “the constitution is a document that cannot be altered without a consensus of the people. How does that consensus happen? By engagement with stakeholders, by making sure that every area in Zambia sends a representative through members of parliament, it is we because it is not him alone”.

The amendment process is so inclusive in fact, that it cannot pass without PF support, as it requires a two-thirds vote in the National Assembly. So much for President Hichilema acting alone to ram through undemocratic reforms. If PF members vote against the amendments for political reasons, they will have to explain to their constituents why they voted down reforms that would vastly increase rural regions’ access to Constituency Development Funds, achieved through dividing rural constituencies, entitling each new constituency to its own funding programme. If the amendments pass, a constituency divided in two will receive a total of 72.2 million Kwacha in development funds, rather than 31.1 million, according to UPND deputy spokesperson Elvis Nkandu.

It is clear then, that these constitutional amendments are designed to advance two causes which President Hichilema’s government has a clear track record of prioritising: gender equality and women’s representation, already visible through his executive appointments, and combatting regional inequality, a fight in which much progress has been made since the President dramatically increased constituency development funding in 2021. The PF would do well to support it.