Report of the Technical Committee on the Amendment of the Constitution of Zambia

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On 2nd October 2025, the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, appointed the Technical Committee on Consulting and Drafting Amendments to the Constitution of Zambia Act, No.2 of 2016. The primary purpose of the Committee was to consult the people of Zambia, and benchmark best constitutional practices from within and outside Zambia and to propose amendments to the Constitution with a view to consolidate democracy and constitutionalism, enhance equitable and balanced representation and distribution of resources across the Republic and to promote inclusivity, accountability, and effective representation in governance systems and structures.
The Committee’s Terms of Reference focused on the electoral process and the electoral system, term of Member of Parliament and office of Minister, hearing of Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Election Petitions, composition of Local Government and the tenure of office of local government officials, definition of Youth, Child and Adult, tenure of office of Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, the qualifications of the Secretary to the Cabinet and provisions of the Constitution that were connected or incidental to the above areas.
The Committee held both physical and virtual sittings to provide members of the public with opportunities to make oral submissions. Provincial sittings were held in all provincial centres, while the virtual sittings took place in council chambers in all the districts of the Republic of Zambia. The oral submissions were made in English, local languages and sign language. The Committee also received written submissions in different local languages through submission boxes placed across all districts of Zambia. Written submissions were also received through the official website of the Committee and its official email. The written submissions through the website and email platform provided an opportunity for Zambians outside the country to make their contribution to the constitution amendments process.
During the consultations, the Committee received more than 11,864 submissions. Of these, no less than 2,181 submissions were received through public sittings, 3,667 submissions were received through submission boxes placed in all the Districts of Zambia and 6,016 submissions were received through the official website and email. These contributions came from a diverse range of stakeholders.