IT WON’T WORK

IT WON’T WORK

…Technical committee lacks time, UPND dominated – stakeholders

 By Tony Nkhoma

THE appointment of a United Party for National Development (UPND) dominated technical committee three months before the end of the year reflects the suspicious rush by President Hakainde Hichilema and his administration to amend the Constitution at any cost, stakeholders have said.

State Counsel Chifumu Banda and Citizens First (CF) president Harry Kalaba have joined other stakeholders who have questioned the appointment of the 25-member technical committee to carry out consultations on the outlawed and rejected Bill 7 with only few months remaining before the next general elections.

Banda, who is Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) president, told The Mast in an interview yesterday the time frame before the 2026 general elections, dissolution of Parliament and appointment of the technical committee made it “completely impossible” to amend the Constitution.

“Parliament will be dissolved in May, 2026 to pave the way for elections in August, 2026. The technical committee has been appointed on October 2, 2025 less than three months before end of the year,” he said.

Banda said the 13 proposed Constitution amendments reflected in Bill 7 had been rejected by Zambians because of lack of time before the 2026 general elections and their sinister nature.

The technical committee did not have enough time to absorb the views of key stakeholders across the country.

Banda said based on the previous Constitution amendments in Zambia, the technical committee did not have the time to visit all the 10 provinces of the country to sit and get informed stakeholders’ views.

“The question that begs an answer is will the committee have sufficient time to go round all the 10 provinces to consult the people? Why the rush to amend the Constitution when elections are just around the corner?” he wondered.

Banda said the government’s rush to amend the Constitution before the elections raised very serious questions about its motive.

He said Hichilema and the UPND would not produce a people-driven Constitution through his committee because there was no budgetary allocation for the exercise.

“These are questions the government should answer if they really want a people-driven Constitution. Is there a budgetary allocation for this exercise?” Banda asked.

On Thursday Hichilema ambushed Zambians with a UPND sympathiser-studded, 25-man technical committee on Constitutional amendments led by Rtd Supreme Court judge Christopher Mushabati.

Meanwhile, Citizens First (CF) president Harry Kalaba has cast doubt on the motive for appointing a committee packed with UPND sympathisers.

Kalaba said although at face value the appointment of the committee was a welcome development and consistent with the Constitutional Court judgment that directed government to restart the process in an inclusive manner, it should be closely scrutinised because of the UPND’s insincerity and the team’s suspicious composition.

“From the onset, concerns have been raised about the composition of the technical committee. Many voices have described it as a ‘committee of praise singers’ dominated by those sympathetic to the ruling party,” he said.

“The respected academician, Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa, has even warned that the three independents on the committee risk being used merely to legitimise what could become a sham process.”

Kalaba said the numerical dominance of the committee by ruling party allies might be used to repackage the same proposals (contained in Bill 7) that were previously declared unconstitutional, undermining the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

“Because of its importance, this process cannot and must not be reduced to a political showpiece designed to satisfy minimum compliance with the Constitutional Court’s ruling,” he said.

Kalaba said his concern was not far-fetched because Zambia had walked this road before.

“Zambians will recall the experience of the Annel Silungwe-led Technical Committee on Drafting the Constitution,” he said.

The Constitutional Court has declared the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 7 of 2025 as foundationally unconstitutional and therefore illegal because the Executive had not conducted wide, countrywide consultations with citizens in compliance with the Constitution.