70-plus bills passed in final session; free education enshrined in law; Bill 7 expands parliament to 280 seats; former ministers bid farewell; legal body warns on transition governance

Zambia’s 13th National Assembly dissolved on May 15, 2026, bringing to a close four years and eight months of legislative activity that produced one of the most far-reaching packages of constitutional, electoral and social policy reforms in the country’s post-independence history, while also attracting scrutiny over the independence of the Speaker, the conduct of ruling party MPs and the passage of a proportional representation law that opponents said could strengthen the ruling party’s parliamentary position.

The dissolution took effect automatically under Article 81(3) of the Zambian Constitution, which requires Parliament to dissolve 90 days before a general election. Speaker Nelly Mutti, the first woman to hold the office in Zambia’s history, addressed lawmakers during a final sitting marked by emotional farewells from members on both sides of the House. Mutti said she hoped lawmakers seeking re-election in August would return to preserve institutional memory, noting that significant legislative capacity had been built during the assembly’s five-year tenure.

The legislative record remains significant on multiple fronts. The assembly passed the Access to Information Act No. 24 of 2023, granting citizens, media institutions and civil society organisations the legal right to access public information, delivering a reform successive administrations had failed to implement. The Education Amendment Bill of 2026 made free public education from early childhood to secondary school a legally enforceable right. The National Pension Scheme Amendment Bill of 2023 allowed eligible citizens to make a one-off pre-retirement withdrawal of 20 percent of their pension contributions. Lawmakers also repealed the 2021 Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act and replaced it with two separate laws: the Cyber Security Act No. 3 of 2025 and the Cyber Crimes Act No. 4 of 2025.

The most contentious legislative measure was the passage of what became known as Bill 7, which introduced a Mixed Member Proportional Representation system, increased parliamentary constituencies from 156 to 226 and created 40 reserved seats for women, youths and persons with disabilities. The incoming 14th National Assembly will now have 280 members, up from the 167 who served in the 13th Assembly. Opposition parties said the law would primarily increase the number of seats available to the ruling United Party for National Development. Speaker Nelly Mutti’s visible celebration on the floor of the House immediately after the bill passed also attracted criticism from opposition lawmakers who argued it undermined the neutrality expected from her office. Legal practitioners also noted that the full voting record showing how individual MPs voted on the bill had not been publicly released.

The 13th Assembly also recorded two major institutional losses. Levy Mkandawire, the United Party for National Development Member of Parliament for Kabwata, died in a road accident in November 2021. Clerk of the National Assembly Roy Ngulube also died during a work trip in Tashkent, Tashkent in 2025. Nine parliamentary by-elections were held during the life of the assembly.

The constitutional transition now places significant administrative authority in the hands of permanent secretaries. Former Secretary to Cabinet Leslie Mbula publicly urged permanent secretaries to exercise restraint and prudence in the use of public resources during the transition period. Governance advocate Isaac Mwanza backed that call, urging permanent secretaries to consult the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General on major policy decisions instead of acting independently. Former ministers including Jack Mwiimbu, Cornelius Mweetwa and Robert Lihefu used farewell events to make final public appeals for professionalism, peace and continuity.

The 14th National Assembly will consist of 280 members elected under a hybrid model combining 226 constituency seats and 40 proportional representation seats. Parliamentary nominations close on May 20, 2026. Campaigns officially open on May 23 and run until August 12, with Zambians heading to the polls on August 13, 2026.

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.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has clarified that the increase in polling stations for the 2026 General Election does not mean new voting centres have been created through delimitation.

Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro said the rise from 12,152 polling stations in 2021 to 13,529 for 2026 is due to more voters being assigned to existing voting centres, requiring additional voting rooms.

“Following the certification of the Register of Voters, the number of registered voters increased to 8,786,300 and once the Register of Voters is certified, the Commission is then able to determine the number of polling stations required across the country based on the number of registered voters assigned to each voting centre,” he said

Mr Kasaro explained that voting takes place at voting centres, and each centre can house one or more polling stations, also called voting rooms, depending on the number of registered voters.

He cited the University of Zambia Sports Hall as an example saying, it is one voting centre but may contain several voting rooms and each voting room is treated as a polling station.

“This means polling stations are not always separate physical locations, in 2021, the ECZ announced 12,152 polling stations, but these were spread across about 9,000 voting centres, with many centres hosting multiple stations, “he said.

Mr Kasaro further said for 2026, the number of voting centres remains about 9,000 and increase in polling stations comes from adding more voting rooms within those existing centres to accommodate the larger voter register.

“The number of voting centres has remained the same at about 9,000, what has increased is the number of polling stations within existing voting centres to accommodate the increased number of registered voters,” Mr Kasaro said.

He said the approach allows voters to use familiar centres while helping the Commission manage the larger voter population and improve the voting process.

This is according to a press statement released to the media by ECZ Chief Electoral Officer