‘Hichilema cabinet exposes Bill 7 hypocrisy’
By Thandizo Banda
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema’s new Cabinet has exposed the deep hypocrisy of Constitution Amendment Bill No. 7, independent 2026 presidential candidate Reverend Dr Given Katuta ha said.
In an interview with The Mast, Dr Katuta said the Bill was used as bait to win the 2026 general elections.
Meanwhile, the Non-Governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) said the exclusion of women, youth and persons with disabilities from the Cabinet was a betrayal.
“Bill 7 was supposed to cure the exclusion of womenfolk, youth and the disabled but unfortunately, the ministerial appointments have exposed otherwise. Bill 7 was only used as bait to win them the 2026 general elections,” Dr Katuta said.
She said the failure by Hichilema to appoint more women, youths and people with disabilities in his cabinet was a total betrayal of the very groups he promised to uplift.
Dr Katuta said Hichilema appointed only five women and without youth and disabled in his 30-member cabinet and 10 provincial ministers.
“Bill 7 was sold as a game-changer for women, youth and the disabled, but where is the honour in appointments? This is betrayal. So, women, youths and the disabled have learnt their lessons in these appointments,” she said.
She said the UPND and Hichilema were running the nation like a party without respecting citizens’ expectations.
Dr Katuta also condemned women’s organisations for alleged selective solidarity.
“NGOCC and Women’s Lobby are not there to support women’s organisations. They are there to support their own gratification. They are waiting to pick crumbs from the table in the name of other appointments and not the major ministerial ones. They did not even support Edith Nawakwi,” she said.
Dr Katuta said had women-led organisations supported their fellow women, Zambia would have had a woman president by now.
In a separate interview, New Heritage Party leader Chishala Kateka said the appointments had stripped naked Bill 7 of any moral justification.
“The justification for passing the infamous Bill 7 is not there, which in our view has exposed hypocrisy of the highest order. It was hypocritical for President Hichilema and the UPND to use Bill 7 to woo support from women, youths and the disabled,” Kateka said.
“So far the cabinet unveiled yesterday is short of women, youth and the differently abled people,” she said.
Kateka also questioned where funds to run a bloated and expanded cabinet would come from.
And NGOCC said five out of 40 appointments represent 12.5 percent, with women holding only five of the 30 cabinet positions.
NGOCC chairperson Anne Mbewe-Anamela said none of the 10 provincial minister positions were given to women or people with disabilities.
“Of the 26 women who entered Parliament through Proportional Representation, only one has been appointed. Even more concerning, all seven of the 11 available presidential nomination slots have so far gone to men,” Mbewe-Anamela said.
