The argument over whether Zambia's presidency should stay limited to two terms has moved from the floor of Parliament to the lawyers. Fred M'membe, president of the Socialist Party, wrote on Monday 2 November to the president of the Law Association of Zambia asking the association to state publicly where it stands on Article 106 of the Constitution and to convene an extraordinary general meeting of its members on any proposal to amend it, Zambia Monitor and the Zambian Observer reported on Tuesday. He has asked for a written reply within seven days and says he will publish both the letter and the answer.
The trigger, as the letter sets it out, is the petition presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday 28 October by the Zambia Youth Organisations Consortium through the nominated MP Francis Kope, which seeks the removal of presidential term limits, together with public calls from officials and supporters of the ruling party for President Hakainde Hichilema to remain in office after 2031. The consortium's case, when it first petitioned the Assembly in September, was put by its vice-chairperson Boas Kanyama: that the ballot should be the only instrument through which citizens hire and fire their leaders.
The legal ground
M'membe's letter rests on three points. First, that the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 13 of 2025 has already removed term limits for mayors and council chairpersons, which he presents as a precedent for what might follow. Second, that Article 79 requires a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly to amend the Constitution, and that the Constitutional Court's judgment of June 2025 on Bill 7 stressed the need for public consultation. Third, that a change to presidential tenure should not rest on a parliamentary majority alone, and he asks LAZ to say whether such a change should proceed without a national referendum.
He proposes that the association engage the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Council of Churches in Zambia, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, the NGOCC and the other bodies that worked together under the Oasis Forum in 2001. The Socialist Party, he writes, would join such a platform without seeking to lead it.
respected the independence of LAZ
— Fred M'membe, in his letter of 2 November 2026 as quoted by Zambia Monitor, saying the Socialist Party was not asking the association to adopt any party's position
Neither report carries a response from the Law Association, from the government or from the consortium, and neither describes any government proposal to amend Article 106. What exists is a petition before Parliament, and the letters and statements that have followed it.
Sources: Zambia Monitor, “M'membe urges resistance to removal of term limits as subtle clamours ensue to keep Hichilema, others beyond five years” (3 Nov 2026); Zambian Observer, “DR FRED M'MEMBE CALLS ON LAZ TO DEFEND PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY” (3 Nov 2026); Zambian Observer, “YOUTH CONSORTIUM PETITIONS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO REMOVE PRESIDENTIAL TERM LIMITS” (24 Sep 2026).