Public Gatherings Bill Risks Undermining August Election Freedoms, LAZ Tells President

LAZ invokes 1995 Supreme Court ruling, warns new law reintroduces permit regime declared unconstitutional three decades ago

The Law Association of Zambia has formally demanded that President Hakainde Hichilema withhold assent to the Public Gatherings Bill No. 71 of 2026, warning in a detailed legal statement that several provisions of the proposed law are inconsistent with the Constitution and risk undermining democratic freedoms with the campaign period set to open within days.

LAZ president Anold Kaluba said the association’s objections were legally precise and went beyond general concern about civil liberties. Sections 6, 8 and 13 of the bill, Kaluba said, effectively reintroduce the permit regime that the Supreme Court of Zambia declared unconstitutional in its landmark ruling in the case of Christine Mulundika and 7 Others versus The People, Judgement No. 25 of 1995. That ruling established that citizens possessed the constitutional right to peaceful assembly without requiring prior permission from authorities. The new bill’s provisions directly contradict that settled constitutional principle, LAZ argued.

Kaluba said the bill in its current form granted excessive powers to regulating authorities and created conditions under which those powers could be deployed to restrict peaceful assembly in the period immediately before the August 13 general election. “In light of the foregoing concerns, LAZ respectfully calls upon President Hakainde Hichilema to withhold the assent of the bill, as several of its provisions are inconsistent with the Constitution,” Kaluba said. LAZ confirmed it had made comprehensive written submissions to the National Assembly during the legislative process highlighting constitutional and human rights concerns, but those concerns were not adequately addressed before the bill passed its final parliamentary stages.

The constitutional challenge reaches the President’s desk at a moment of deep historical irony. Hichilema and the UPND made the repeal of the Public Order Act a central campaign commitment during years in opposition, repeatedly accusing both the Movement for Multiparty Democracy and the Patriotic Front of deploying the law to block UPND rallies and restrict political opposition. The Socialist Party has been blocked from holding political rallies more than 30 times since 2021 under the existing Public Order Act, with police citing security concerns that opposition parties described as unfounded. The ruling party held rallies and campaigned across the country throughout the same period without advance police notification.

The Public Gatherings Bill No. 71 of 2026 was presented as a replacement for the Public Order Act. LAZ’s position is that rather than expanding constitutional freedoms as promised, the legislation takes away the limited space citizens already enjoyed and concentrates broader regulatory authority in institutions that have demonstrably used similar powers to restrict opposition political activity. The association said the bill undermines Article 11 of the Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms, alongside Articles 20, 21 and 23, which protect freedom of expression, assembly and freedom from discrimination.

The timing intensifies the challenge’s political weight. The Electoral Commission of Zambia announced that the campaign period officially opens May 23, 2026, meaning the gatherings bill, if assented to in its current form, would take immediate legal effect during the most active phase of public political activity before polling day. Parliamentary candidates across 226 constituencies will be seeking to hold rallies and community engagements in the weeks between May 23 and August 12. Any regulatory restriction on those activities under the new law would have direct consequences for the fairness of the electoral process.

Hichilema has not publicly responded to the LAZ demand. The Public Gatherings Bill No. 71 of 2026 was passed during the 13th National Assembly’s final session before Parliament dissolved on May 15. Kaluba said further engagement and consultation should be undertaken with relevant stakeholders before the bill is presented for presidential assent. If Hichilema assents and the legislation is subsequently challenged through judicial review, the same constitutional arguments articulated by LAZ grounded in the 1995 Mulundika ruling — would form the foundation of that litigation.