SUBMISSIONS TO THE SHAM TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

IN every struggle there are always people who betray the cause of that struggle. In our fight for independence there were our people who worked with colonialists.
In Zimbabwe we had a man of God, Methodist Bishop Abel Muzorewa who joined hands with the oppressors. In apartheid South Africa, some people took a middle position and instead of fighting for the emancipation of the whole of South Africa, settled for a living in Bantustan areas.
In our battle for the soul of democracy, to defend the Constitution, rule of law and the doctrine of the separation of powers we too have Zambians amongst us who are sell-outs.
All the members of the Technical Committee are such citizens who have joined the conspiracy to overthrow the Constitution of Zambia as by law established.
There is also a clique of UPND MPs who have abandoned this battle for pieces of silver. This should in turn strengthen all of us fighting in accordance with Article 2 of the Constitution; are defending and resisting or preventing President Hakainde Hichilema and the Technical Committee from overthrowing and illegally abrogating our Constitution.
Our fight isn’t an easy one; it calls for a lot of sacrifice, smart strategies and courage. We must be more determined than President Hichilema and plan ahead of him. Every strategy we employ must have a back-up one.
We therefore salute the NGOCC, the Oasis Forum and Eastern Province chiefs for their wise stand not to make submissions to this illegal Technical Committee appointed to legitimise President Hichilema’s wishes and insecurities.
We wish to bring to the attention of the Technical Committee the following;
That sitting allowances are being paid to you fraudulently because the Emoluments Commission mandated by the Constitution to determine emoluments for all public and civil servants didn’t determine them. This means that whatever sitting allowances and expenses being incurred by the Technical Committee are unconstitutional and amounts to stealing for which there will be consequences when a new government is elected next year.
That the Technical Committee was unconstitutionally constituted to alter the Constitution. Any unconstitutional means to alter the Constitution is treasonable. When the new government is sworn-in, you will all be arrested for treason and don’t cry victimisation.
President Hichilema too is guilty of treason for having constituted this illegal committee although for the time being he enjoys immunity from prosecution. The incoming government after next year’s elections will take charge of that.
All those petitioners appearing before you and making submissions are equally guilty of treason.
That no Zambian as an individual or as a group has complained against any Article of the current constitution. You are engaged in an unconstitutional means to alter the Constitution to satisfy one individual and that is President Hichilema.
That the genesis to your illegal and sham Technical Committee stems from an intelligence assessment that President Hichilema would win the elections but majority of UPND MPs and councillors will lose.
That to make up for the numbers of the lost UPND MPs President Hichilema proposed among others in Bill 7 to nominate 55 MPs.
That the Terms of Reference for your sham Technical Committee are all designed to provide answers which are in Bill 7 and is already before Parliament therefore breaching Article 79 (2) (a) of the Constitution which requires that such a bill to be published in a gazette not less than 30 days before it is tabled in Parliament.
That you have accepted to be rubber stamps because the end product of your “work” has already been prepared as bill 7 by President Hichilema’s “team,”
As adults and respected family members, is your conscience clear that you can consult and gather views from 19.7 million Zambians in 1, 858 wards, 156 constituencies, 116 districts and 10 provinces in 18 days?
That you are engaged in an unconstitutional means to alter the best and first ever non-partisan Constitution.
Once your sham work is done and over, will you walk with your heads high? Will you face millions of Zambians you have betrayed and tell them you are patriots, democrats and that you performed your civic duty to the best of your knowledge?
That in line with the oath that you took, your acceptance to serve in an illegal committee, the illegal consultations you are making and the illegal amendments you will propose are in sync with the Constitution, tenets of constitutionalism and pleasing to God?
That it is indeed God who helped you as is said in the oath that you took to accept illegal appointments, accept fraudulent payments as sitting allowances to work in an illegal body?
That you swore before God knowing very well that you are participating in an illegal undertaking. We invite you to read for yourselves Ecclesiastes 5:4-5, Acts 5:29, Leviticus 27:8-10 and Numbers 30:2. You have used hunger that has not spared anyone in our country to help you disguise acceptance to serve in an illegal committee as patriotism. Your desperation for sitting allowances has spelt a very sad ending for you.
We once again call upon all our MPs, you are our last line of defence and majority of you took part in passing the current Constitution which none of you has complained about.
How then can you let President Hichilema’s insecurities move you into being part of the conspiracy to overthrow our Constitution as by law established?
How can President Hichilema who is serving in the public service for the first time drag you into committing a treasonable offence? How can you be part of a sham process where the illegal Technical Committee was constituted first, Terms of Reference designed to provide answers to what is in bill 7 provided later as an afterthought?
In our earlier features we had warned that no one should applaud injustices being inflicted by government on any section of our society. UPND MPs were celebrating the harassments and the hijacking of the PF by the Hichilema administration, now they are in a dilemma as President Hichilema has gone for their “necks” too, all the veteran UPND MPs are to be retired.
We warned that after the opposition political parties, the government will go after the media outlets, then the religious bodies, workers’ unions, professional bodies and finally NGOs.
It is in public domain that the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) is testing the waters by taking jabs with the KBN Television Network. Pastor Sunday Sinyangwe’s overnight prayers were abruptly cancelled by the Police. So, there is need for all these bodies we have mentioned to come together and fight as a single force such that if one is touched by the government the grip will be felt by all. This is not a time to stand aloof and celebrate the agony of those being harassed by the government. The fight for our Constitution, for our democracy is real and if we fail to stop its abrogation now we shall have very difficult elections next year. As you are reading this feature dear Reader, there are 45 civil wars and demonstrations (seven of them in Africa) being fought throughout the world most of them emanating from disputed elections, incumbent leaders imposing themselves on the people who have rejected them. These are not foolish people neither are we smarter than them.
In this regard, the media reports attributed to former Secretary to the cabinet Leslie Mbula in an interview with Phoenix News on October 31, 2025 that Zambia could face growing unrest if leaders continue to ignore citizens’ voices and mishandle key governance and constitutional matters should be taken seriously. We agree with the former number one civil servant that, “when citizens’ voices are ignored, frustrations grow. If leadership treats dialogue as confrontation, revolt becomes inevitable” These are also his words, “People rarely revolt overnight, it starts with ignored grievances, and laws imposed from above rather than through participation” Senior citizen Mbula added that “ A constitution belongs to the people not to any government. When you rush amendments without genuine engagement you alienate the very citizens whose rights you claim to protect. “Retired senior bureaucrat Mbula reminded our leaders that, “Our democracy was built on consultations not coercion. If we abandon that principle, we will lose the stability we take for granted”
The veteran administrator warned that Zambia risks Tanzania style unrest over governance. It is very rare that the former seasoned civil servant issues press statements in this objective manner. It shows the obtuse degree to which President Hichilema has deviated the country away from its normal democratic trajectory and the extent of damage he is causing to the country’s peaceful and stability credentials. President Kaunda had warned us in 2006 that of the candidates that were vying for the Presidency, he was only worried of Hakainde Hichilema because he would divide the country on tribal lines and drive her into a conflict zone. The first part of this prophecy has been fulfilled, we need a united front comprising all the MPs, opposition political parties, Oasis Forum, media outlets, religious bodies, workers’ unions, professional bodies and NGOs to avert the other part of the prophecy for no one stands to benefit from it including the sell-outs who are being used to drive President Hichilema’s authoritarian agenda.
Those who doubted President Hichilema’s authoritarian nature and the direction in which he wants to take our country can confirm them with his readily acceptance to attend the restricted military barracks held-inauguration ceremony of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan who won a sham election with 98 percent of the vote because the country is under fire; riots have broken out and over 700 rioters have since been shot dead. This is after all leading opposition politicians were imprisoned on trumped up charges. If our President believes in free and fair elections and democracy he would have asked our High Commissioner in Tanzania to represent him.
Samia’s two Vice Presidents and Prime Minister resigned and didn’t take part in these sham elections The SADCC Observer Mission has since declared the elections as flawed, for they “fell short of the SADCC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.”
Article 2 of our Constitution states that, “Every Person has the right and duty to-
defend this Constitution, and
resist or prevent a person from overthrowing, suspending or illegally abrogating this Constitution.” We therefore call upon all Zambians to ensure that the illegal work being undertaken by the Technical committee is stopped henceforth. Civil society organisations, the Oasis Forum and Eastern Province chiefs have led the way by boycotting submissions to this illegal Committee. A direct threat requires