01/12/2025
No why bill 7 is evil and must not be allowed to pass
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐
By Dr Mwelwa
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ 2 - ๐ฌ๐ช๐: ๐ป๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Bill 7 hides a dangerous mutation within Article 52. By giving the Electoral Commission power to โ๐ก๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐โ nomination disputes, Zambia is constructing a monster with silent clawsโan institution able to decide who appears on the ballot without judicial oversight.
ECZ was never designed to be judge, prosecutor and referee. Its mandate is administrative, not judicial. Yet Bill 7 transforms it into an electoral court, empowered to decide nominations, disqualifications and eligibility. The gatekeeper now becomes the gate itself, controlled from unseen political corridors.
A democracy collapses not when votes are stolen, but when candidates are quietly blocked from ever standing. Bill 7 creates exactly that danger. With ECZ as final arbiter of nominations, a politically influenced Commission can eliminate threatening opponents using technicalities disguised as legality.
This is how constitutional monsters are bornโby adding quiet words to loud laws. The insertion of โand determineโ seems harmless, yet it transfers judicial power from courts to an institution whose leadership is appointed by the very forces seeking re-election. Independence becomes illusion; power becomes concentration.
Across Africa, authoritarian drift begins with electoral bodies acquiring judicial powers. The moment the ballot gate is controlled, elections remain peaceful, yet deeply manipulated. Citizens still voteโbut only for approved candidates. Bill 7 moves Zambia dangerously close to such controlled democracy.
Imagine an opposition candidate disqualified because an affidavit was misdated. Imagine a mayoral aspirant removed because a witness signature seems inconsistent. Imagine a presidential challenger blocked because ECZ โdeterminesโ the affidavit insufficient. All this becomes possible under the new clause.
The Courtโs oversight has saved Zambia before. From Zulu and Mukandila to the numerous 2016 petitions, judicial review preserved constitutional order. Bill 7 weakens this safeguard by letting ECZ issue binding decisions during nominations, locking the courthouse doors before anyone knocks.
The true danger is future abuse. Todayโs Commissioners may be fair; tomorrowโs may not. The Constitution must restrain future tyranny, not trust current goodwill. A single phrase cannot be allowed to build a future where citizens vote only for candidates permitted by an administrative office.
Zambia must recognise this drift. We are not strengthening ECZ; we are inflating it. We are not reforming elections; we are narrowing them. Bill 7 does not protect democracyโit engineers a perfect tool for removing political threats before voting begins. That is how monsters rise.
