By Brian Matambo – Lusaka, Zambia

On May 16, 2025, President Hakainde Hichilema signed Statutory Instrument No. 24 of 2025, a document that on the surface looked simple: it set the salaries and housing allowances for Zambia’s judges. But behind that technical language lies a dangerous truth, the President has broken the Constitution, defied a binding ruling of the Constitutional Court, and dragged Zambia back toward executive impunity.

This is not a minor mistake. It is a direct challenge to the principle that no one, not even the Head of State, is above the Constitution.

A COURT RULING IGNORED
In July 2023, the Constitutional Court settled this very question once and for all in the case brought by lawyer John Sangwa, SC. The judges ruled clearly: only the Emoluments Commission, acting on advice from the Judicial Service Commission, has the power to set the pay of judges. The President’s old powers to do so under outdated legislation were struck down and declared unconstitutional.

The Court even ordered the Minister of Finance to report to Parliament every six months on progress toward full compliance. It was a victory for constitutionalism and for the independence of the judiciary.

But two years later, President Hichilema has ignored that judgment and issued his own statutory instrument as if nothing ever happened.

WHY IT MATTERS
At stake here is more than money. Judges’ salaries are a cornerstone of their independence. If a President can dictate how much judges earn, he can influence them, control them, or punish them. That is why the framers of our Constitution created the Emoluments Commission, to remove politics from the question of pay and protect the judiciary from interference.

By usurping those powers, Hichilema has not just signed a piece of paper. He has undermined the very independence of the judiciary and shown contempt for the authority of the Constitutional Court.

THE SLIPPERY SLOPE TO LAWLESSNESS
Zambia has been here before. Past leaders chipped away at institutions, ignored court rulings, and turned the Presidency into an all-powerful throne. Each time, it was done in the name of expedience, but the result was the same, weaker courts, weaker Parliament, weaker democracy.

For a man who campaigned on the promise of restoring the rule of law, Hichilema’s actions mark a sharp betrayal. If the President can openly disregard a Constitutional Court judgment, what prevents him from ignoring other parts of the Constitution that inconvenience him?

A CALL TO RESIST
This is not just Sangwa’s fight. It is the fight of every Zambian who believes in justice and accountability. The Judiciary, the Emoluments Commission, and Parliament must stand up now. To remain silent is to accept a return to one-man rule dressed in democratic clothing.

The President must withdraw this unconstitutional statutory instrument immediately. Anything less will confirm that State House believes it is above the law.

HISTORY WILL JUDGE
Future generations will ask: when the Constitution was trampled, who stood up and who remained quiet?

President Hichilema still has a chance to correct course. But if he does not, his legacy will not be of reform and progress, but of arrogance, betrayal, and the slow killing of judicial independence.

The people of Zambia deserve better. Our Constitution deserves respect. And our judges deserve freedom from political control.