By Brian Matambo – Lusaka, 24 October 2025

Patriotic Front Member and Constitutional Lawyer Hon. Makebi Zulu has called for what he described as Zambia’s Second Independence, urging citizens to unite in reclaiming their freedoms and restoring constitutional order.

In a powerful Independence Day statement titled “For True Freedom, We Must Reclaim Our Country”, Makebi Zulu said Zambia’s current political climate shows that the country’s hard-won freedoms have been eroded and that the nation is “under a new form of subjugation.”

He warned that the country’s democratic foundations have been weakened by excessive presidential power, economic dependency on foreign interests, and the silencing of dissent.

“Our independence is eroded because the President possesses unchecked power, because the economy serves foreigners more than our own people, and because the voice of the citizen can be silenced at will,” Zulu said.

“We are not free. Zambia is under a new form of subjugation.”

Makebi Zulu cited the imprisonment of several opposition figures such as Hon. Chishimba Kambwili, Ronald Chitotela, Nickson Chilangwa, Joe Malanji, and Bowman Lusambo as evidence that freedom of speech and political participation have been curtailed. He also expressed concern over the treatment of PF/Tonse Alliance Secretary-General Raphael Nakachinda, whom he said was jailed “for making a political statement.”

He further criticised the current administration for what he termed the reversal of Zambia’s economic sovereignty, saying the mines that once symbolised independence had again fallen under foreign control.

“The mines we recovered from colonial control have been handed back to foreign interests,” he said. “The racism our forefathers fought against has resurfaced as tribalism.”

Makebi Zulu called on Zambians both at home and abroad to rally around the idea of a Second Independence, one that restores equality, justice, and opportunity under a truly people-centred Constitution.

“We demand a Zambia that is truly free, one where the excessive powers of the President are constrained by law, where our mines, our land, our water and our children’s future belong first and foremost to us,” he said.

He outlined his vision for a Green Zambia, a nation that is pro-life, pro-poor, and grounded in Christian values, saying that true freedom must include moral, economic, and constitutional renewal.

Zulu also expressed solidarity with those he referred to as political prisoners and exiles, assuring them that “soon their freedom will be guaranteed.”

“We will not cower. We will not allow our nation to descend into the silence of submission,” he said. “We commit ourselves, ordinary Zambians in every village, town and in the diaspora, to take back our country, to restore dignity to the poor, voice to the silenced, and hope to the betrayed.”

He concluded his statement with a call for unity and national rebirth, declaring that the Second Independence must begin now as “a rebirth of Zambia’s democracy, economy and society.”

“May God bless Zambia, and may Zambia bless her people,” he said.