Bill 7 Deferred: A Chance to Close Legal Loopholes on Presidential Residence and Asset Disclosure
By Venus N Msyani
The deferral of Constitutional Amendment Bill 7 has ignited fierce public debate in Zambia. While some interpret it as a death knell for the proposal, others view it as a calculated pause meant to ease concerns over a rushed process. President Hakainde Hichilema defended the move, stating, “The deferral was necessary to allow more time for stakeholder engagement and to gather more content from various parties.”
His justification aligns with the latter view, repositioning the delay as a strategic opening rather than a legislative failure. The pause offers an essential opportunity to confront long-standing legal ambiguities surrounding presidential residence and asset disclosure.
At present, Zambian law does not require the sitting president to reside at State House. President Hichilema currently resides in his private home in New Kasama, Lusaka, a property presumably enhanced at public expense to meet executive standards. Such arrangements risk establishing a problematic precedent, one where future leaders expect taxpayer-funded upgrades to personal residences without constitutional mandate.
In the absence of legal constraints, this practice could quickly morph into a recurring entitlement: “President Hichilema didn’t relocate to State House, neither will I.”
Equally troubling is the issue of asset declaration. The law does not compel elected officials to publicly disclose their assets, weakening the nation’s anti-corruption infrastructure. Future leaders may exploit this gap, citing past behavior to sidestep transparency: “He didn’t declare his assets, I won’t either.”
What appears at first glance to be rhetorical evasion in fact signals a broader institutional failure, where informal precedent begins to eclipse codified governance. Addressing this now is not simply advisable; it’s imperative.
Hichilema’s own words, “Leadership means you must think of the person who is coming after you,” must be weighed against the choices that may now shape future presidencies. If left unchecked, these precedents risk distorting expectations of executive responsibility. The possibility of future leaders commuting daily from locales as distant as Kabwe or beyond, by helicopter no less, underscores the fiscal burden such informality could impose on the state. Our economy is too small for that.
Corruption continues to drain Zambia’s resources, even amidst formal reform efforts. Experts and civil society leaders have long called for mandatory annual asset and liability disclosures. Yet legal inertia allows technical avoidance to persist, dulling the edge of anti-corruption initiatives.
The moment demands legal clarity. Through constitutional reform, Zambia can enshrine requirements for public asset declarations, designate an official presidential residence, and eliminate policy blind spots that erode institutional trust. These reforms are not a critique of one administration; they are a defense of national integrity. Transparent governance lays the groundwork for development; accountability ensures its permanence.
The Constitution should reflect a commitment to clarity, equity, and fiscal restraint. This is not reactionary policymaking. It is responsible stewardship. Zambia’s future deserves laws that empower its citizens, not shield its leaders. And its public record should inspire tomorrow’s generation, not leave them to question yesterday’s silence.
Future Zambian Presidents may not relocate to State House. They may not annually declare assets either. Bill 7 Deferred: A chance to close these legal loopholes.
Why say the law does not compel you to stay in state house and does not compel you to declare your assets but at the same time whilst there is no law to compel ECLs family to burry his remains at Embasy park and no law compelling you to attend the burial but you are putting unnecessary pressure on them. Why these double standards.
Correct, in some areas the law needs to be tightened like the asset declaration issue. Even this issue of ECL burial – Protocols and military honours for burial of a former head of state are not laws. We all want ECL to be burried in Zambia but there is no law compelling that. Not even sure why government is creating this impasse
What is pizza for the goose mustn’t be shawarma for the gander. Let it be pizza too. How do you claim lack of no law to advance your stay at a private house, but manufacture laws
You have undignified the State House by reducing it to only an office than residence.
@LT – Well articulated. President Hichlema was expected to bring “best practices” into Government but has instead regressed our system to the point of collapse.
All the above comments are 100% on point. Remember, we deserve the leaders we elect.
Has anyone ever calculated how much the comings and goings between State House and “Community House” have cost the Zambian tax payer?
Action Sejane should calculate.
First of all we now have to provide double the security, one group at State house, another at N Kasama to detect assassin Faith Musonda. We have to pay for new cooks at Community house, pay for the fuel in the motorcade’s morning and evening runs. We paid for security cameras for a private house etc et
The executive is the weakest. Perpetually making laws that make them stay longer in power. Even the smoke screened bill 7 is serving that same purpose. Their elections victory solely relies on enacted bill 7. They survive by laws, like cyber and public order. Put a president in power he goes to serve his personal interests. What a betrayal HH is! And when citizens complain he accuses them of harbouring hate because he’s from Chuundu.
He’s from Bweengwa
The law on asset declaration by presidential candidates was changed by Edgar Lungu. Declaration is now made to the Electoral Commission of Zambia and not the Chief Justice. As for a president living at State House, I think a tour of the living quarters by the media ought to be arranged so that people see what state the place is in. After all, it’s a public place which the public should have access to after applicable clearance. If a public place cannot be accessed by the public, it’s hardly public.
Kiikikikikiiii! Iwe kanna! We should see the president’s bedroom!! In Africa it’s taboo! We don’t enter the elders’ bedroom
No, Some of us dont view it as a calculated pause meant to ease concerns over a rushed process.. It’s not calculated. It’s a kawayawaya unplanned proposal over a serious issue. Straight out of Donald Trump’s garbage bin. Let’s get serious before we deliver our beloved nation to the dogs. Or have the dogs already come to the nation?
A French saying states that the dog owner bent on killing his or her dog will first accuse the dog of rabies. What the country needs is a president of integrity and authority. In HH the country can have an African Lion or an African Hyena. Corruption narratives can amount to cheap politics. Presidents are impeached for breaching constitutional mandate. Period