By Brian Matambo | Lusaka, Zambia
Patriotic Front President Honourable Given Lubinda has issued a stark and urgent warning that Zambia is sliding into a constitutional crisis following the passage and presidential assent of Constitution Amendment Bill No. 7 of 2025, a process he described as unlawful, deceptive, and contemptuous of the will of the people.
Addressing the media and leaders of the Tonse Alliance in Lusaka, President Lubinda said the enactment of Bill 7 marked a dangerous rupture in Zambia’s constitutional order, driven by a government unwilling to listen to citizens, civil society, the church, or professional bodies.
Central to his address, Honourable Given Lubinda cited the Constitutional Court judgment in Celestine Mukandila and Munir Zulu v Attorney General, a landmark ruling which found that the government’s approach to constitutional amendments was inconsistent with the spirit and substance of the Constitution. He stressed that the court was unequivocal in its guidance that constitutional reform must be people driven, led by an independent body, and anchored in wide, genuine, and meaningful public consultations.
President Lubinda said this guidance was deliberately ignored by the UPND government, which instead chose a path of defiance and constitutional erosion. He warned that by disregarding the constituent authority of the people, the government had weakened democracy, broken public trust, and placed the Republic at serious risk.
He further stated that civil society organisations, the Law Association of Zambia, the church, and citizens across the country had spoken with one voice against the Bill 7 process, but their rejection was dismissed outright. According to Honourable Given Lubinda, this disregard demonstrated a pattern of governance that excludes dissenting voices and treats national consensus as an inconvenience.
Turning to Parliament, President Lubinda said Bill 7 could not have succeeded without what he termed a betrayal of the Zambian people by Members of Parliament. He confirmed that the Patriotic Front had issued a clear three line whip directing all its MPs to attend Parliament and record a vote against the Bill. Despite repeated engagements and explicit instructions, some PF MPs voted in favour of the constitutional amendment.
In a decisive announcement, Honourable Given Lubinda declared the immediate and irreversible expulsion of all Patriotic Front Members of Parliament who supported Bill 7. He said the party was fully aware of how its MPs voted and dismissed the absence of a published division list as a political smokescreen designed to shield those who defied both party discipline and public will.
President Lubinda sharply criticised the National Assembly for failing to publish the division list days after the vote, describing the concealment as unprecedented and unlawful. He said Parliament is a House of record and that transparency is a constitutional obligation, not a discretionary act. He demanded the immediate release of the voting record, insisting that Zambians have an absolute right to know how their representatives voted on an issue of such national gravity.
He accused the ruling party of facilitating arrangements to suppress the division list in order to protect MPs who crossed the line, warning that such manoeuvres would not erase accountability or public memory.
Framing the moment as historic, Honourable Given Lubinda said constitutions are sacred covenants between the people and the state, not instruments to be manipulated for political convenience. He stressed that the Patriotic Front would neither be silent nor complicit in the face of constitutional abuse.
President Lubinda called on opposition political parties to remain united and to place national interest above personal ambition. He characterised the current moment as a liberation struggle against unconstitutional governance, democratic backsliding, and the erosion of human dignity.
Despite the severity of his warning, he emphasised that the struggle would remain peaceful, firm, and resolute. He urged Zambians not to surrender hope, saying history would judge leaders by whether they stood with power or with the people at this defining moment.
As Zambia confronts the consequences of Bill 7, Honourable Given Lubinda’s address signals an escalation in political and constitutional confrontation, with the Patriotic Front positioning itself for a sustained battle over the country’s democratic future.
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