Caritas Zambia: Zambia's Constitution Puts Too Much Power In One Office, reform is needed

Court premises across Zambia were shut and sealed off on August 24, the final day for presidential candidate Brian Mundubile to file a petition challenging the results of the August 13 election. The closures affected the High Court, Supreme Court and Constitutional Court complex in Lusaka, as well as court premises in Ndola, Chipata and Livingstone. Premises in Lusaka were sealed with police tape, and armed police and military personnel were deployed around the buildings. Mundubile, who lost the election to incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema, was backed by the Tonse Alliance. His camp had until the seventh day after the result was declared to file a challenge in the Constitutional Court. Zambia Police Inspector General Graphel Musamba defended the closures, saying they were part of "security risk assessments" being carried out at selected government premises in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies. He described the exercise as intelligence-led and preventive, aimed at safeguarding government institutions, and said it was not directed at any individual or group. The Judiciary separately issued a memorandum, from Chief Administrator Nalishiebo Imataa, also citing security reasons for the closures. Neither statement set out what the specific security threat was, how long the closures would last, or why they fell on the one day that mattered most for filing an election petition. The Law Association of Zambia was among the first to object. LAZ President Arnold Kaluba said the closure happened without a formal public explanation of the reasons, its geographical scope or its expected duration, and raised concerns about access to justice for both criminal defendants and those seeking to file electoral petitions. Transparency International Zambia's Executive Director, Maurice Nyambe, said the vague security justification had obstructed access to justice and blocked an aggrieved presidential candidate from exercising his constitutional right to challeng