Five Zambians ask Parliament to reject presidential term limit revision
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Zambian Observer
Five Zambian citizens have asked National Assembly Speaker Nelly Mutti to reject a motion seeking to amend Article 106(3) of the Constitution, which limits presidents to two terms. In a petition dated 12 November, they described the limit as a democratic safeguard, according to the Zambian Observer.
Five Zambian citizens on Thursday asked National Assembly Speaker Nelly Mutti to reject a proposal to amend Article 106(3) of the Constitution, which bars a person who has served twice as president from standing again. The petition, dated 12 November 2026, was handed to Mutti by Feira MP Emmanuel Tembo, the Zambian Observer reports.
The petitioners, Xhuzwayo Phiri, Chabota Mweetwa, Danson Lungu, Joseph Kambele and Changala Siame, oppose an initiative by the Zambia Youth Organisations Consortium (ZYOC), filed on 23 September and presented to Parliament on 28 October by nominated MP Francis Kope. They said the two-term limit was a democratic safeguard and asked the National Assembly to reject any motion seeking to weaken it, according to the Zambian Observer.
The five citizens also cited the experience of the one-party regime established under former president Kenneth Kaunda in 1972 and enshrined in the Constitution in 1973. They recalled that an attempt to secure a third term for former president Frederick Chiluba in 2001 was abandoned after opposition from civil society, churches, lawyers, citizens and members of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), according to the Zambian Observer.
The petition comes after Zambian youths called on 28 October for the removal of the presidential term limit in an initiative to amend the term limit. It also follows a Zambian lawyer’s defence on 6 October of an amendment to the presidential term limit.
