State House, UPND Distance Hichilema From Third Term Calls

State House and the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) have moved to distance President Hakainde Hichilema from growing calls to remove presidential term limits, with State House describing the third term question as a peripheral issue and the party saying it has…

State House and the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) have moved to distance President Hakainde Hichilema from growing calls to remove presidential term limits, with State House describing the third term question as a peripheral issue and the party saying it has no position on it.

The calls have come from within the ruling party’s wider ranks, and the most direct came from Florence Chileshe Chama, a UPND nominated Member of Parliament. In a video shared widely online on 21 September, she said women want Mr Hichilema to remain in office beyond 2031. “As women in Zambia, we want development, we don’t want democracy,” she said.

Others followed a similar line. Chilufya Tayali, a UPND supporter, said removing the presidential term limit would strengthen democracy, while party official Michael Chuzu said on a television programme that the President was completing the late Anderson Mazoka’s term and would start his own in 2031.

State House answered on Thursday. Chief Communications Specialist Clayson Hamasaka said the people should not focus on the third term question but on the President’s development agenda. Speaking in Lusaka, he said national issues could not be resolved through press statements and social media commentary alone.

He then gave an assurance on how the country would be run. “One thing I can assure everyone is that President Hakainde Hichilema will not govern the country based on social media commentary,” Mr Hamasaka said.

He invited citizens with concrete ideas or proposals on matters affecting the country to take them to the relevant Government ministries or the State House desk. Mr Hamasaka added that the President would not stifle civil and legal discussion among citizens on issues of national interest.

UPND media director Mark Simuuwe took the same line and went further on what the President’s silence should be taken to mean. He said there had never been an official Government position, or a statement from Mr Hichilema, proposing a third term.

“The fact that the President has chosen not to comment should be respected. His silence should not be interpreted as either support or opposition to the various views being expressed,” Mr Simuuwe said.

He said the continued attempts by Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe to draw the Head of State into the conversation were unnecessary, and amounted to deliberately making him the subject of a conversation he had not started. It was contradictory, he said, to demand that the President speak while knowing that the same voices would accuse him of interference if he did.

Mr Simuuwe also reminded Mr M’membe of his own record, saying he had taken part in and promoted constitutional reform through his media platforms, including The Weekly Post. If Mr M’membe had a position on presidential term limits, he said, he should present his arguments and let Zambians agree or disagree.

On the question of change itself, Mr Simuuwe said constitutional provisions were open to democratic evolution. He pointed to the amendments to tenure limits for local government offices as proof that frameworks could be altered through proper legal procedures. “Let parliamentarians express their views. Let the constitutional process determine the outcome,” he said.

The party’s position was set out most plainly by secretary general Batuke Imenda, who said the UPND had not discussed the matter at all. “As a party, we have no position on this one, because it is not in our agenda. So, whether it’s for or against, we have not discussed it. In fact, our Grow Zambia Agenda is what is keeping us busy and not anything else,” he said.

Mr Imenda said the topic had never been tabled in party structures, so anyone speaking on it was doing so in a private capacity. He said the party could control its own members but not the general public, who were free to discuss whatever they wished under the expanded democratic space, and that the UPND would not be drawn into political speculation. He urged citizens to direct their energy to supporting the Grow Zambia Agenda.

The Constitution’s own words frame the question. Article 106(3) states that “a person who has twice held office as President is not eligible for election as President.” Mr Hichilema was sworn in for a second term on 1 September, and that term, which runs to 2031, is his last under current law.

Bill 7, signed into law on 18 December 2025, removed the two-term limit for mayors and council chairpersons and created 40 nominated seats for women, youth and persons with disabilities. Government says it does not remove presidential term limits. Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha has said upcoming constitutional reforms will follow due process, that Zambians will participate, and that political statements should not create fear.

Opposition voices see the matter differently. Saboi Imboela, president of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said removing term limits would enable the creation of tyrants, because those who introduced the limits knew what removal would mean. “Those that created the term limits knew that if they removed them it would be the beginning of the creation of tyrants because people would now be untouchable,” she said.

Ms Imboela also questioned the UPND’s change of position. She said the late President Edgar Lungu was fought and taken to court, where it was agreed that he was not eligible to contest the 2026 election. “What is happening what has changed the UPND fought Lungu until they even went to court so why are they now pushing this narrative,” she asked.

She said the ruling party’s two-thirds majority in Parliament meant it could amend the Constitution if it wished, and that Mr Hichilema should groom a successor rather than cling to power at all costs. She urged Zambians to speak out because democracy was under threat.

For now, Mr Hichilema has not said he wants a third term, the UPND says the question is not on its agenda, and Article 106(3) remains in force.