State House denies Hichilema ordered court closure to block petitions

STATE House has denied claims that President Hakainde Hichilema ordered the closure of Zambian courts to prevent the opposition from filing election petitions. In a statement issued Aug. 25, Chief Communications Specialist Clayson Hamasaka said the allegation was "inconsistent with both the constitutional order and the available facts." Hamasaka said the president has no constitutional

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STATE House has denied claims that President Hakainde Hichilema ordered the closure of Zambian courts to prevent the opposition from filing election petitions.

In a statement issued Aug. 25, Chief Communications Specialist Clayson Hamasaka said the allegation was “inconsistent with both the constitutional order and the available facts.” Hamasaka said the president has no constitutional authority to direct when or how courts receive filings, and stressed that the judiciary is an independent arm of government. He cited a statement from Inspector General of Police Graphel C. Musamba that security risk assessments were being conducted Aug. 24 at selected government premises nationwide, including institutions under the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security, National Prosecution Authority and Attorney General’s Chambers. “The operations were intelligence-led and preventive, aimed at safeguarding Government institutions, public officers and members of the public,” the statement said. Hamasaka argued that because the measures applied across several government arms, they could not “reasonably be presented as an operation aimed at a single litigant.” The statement also noted that court operations have been suspended before for reasons unrelated to pending cases, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hamasaka said the Electoral Commission of Zambia declared the presidential result on Aug. 18, opening the 7-day constitutional window for petitions. He said courts sat and received filings during the following working days, and no presidential petition was lodged during that period. “If a petition was genuinely prepared but prevented from being filed, those making that claim should produce it, together with evidence of when and how an attempt was made to lodge it,” he said. The statement added that security measures affecting physical access should not be conflated with denial of judicial remedy, and that courts “remain open to those who invoke them.” “Political disappointment, however, cannot justify attributing the decisions of independent institutions to the Head of State,” Hamasaka said. He said President Hichilema respects the constitutional independence of Zambia’s institutions and that the country “must now move forward peacefully, constitutionally and together.” Advertisement Advertise here Reach readers inside premium article pages.

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