Constitutional Court rejects bid by Oasis Forum to halt constitution amendment process

The Oasis Forum has suffered a legal setback after the Constitutional Court refused to grant a conservatory order to halt the ongoing constitutional amendment process pending determination of its petition challenging the process’s legality.

The Forum — comprising LAZ, NGOCC, the three church mother bodies and the LCK Freedom Foundation — argued that President Hakainde Hichilema’s newly appointed 25-member Technical Committee on Amendments to the Constitution was unconstitutional, opaque and a threat to Zambia’s democratic order.

The petition seeks to nullify all acts and documents produced by the Committee, “past, present and future.”

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The group contends that the Committee, appointed on October 2, 2025, was created without constitutional or statutory authority, lacked a gazetted legal instrument, and violated principles set in the Munir Zulu judgment.

However, in her ruling, Constitutional Court Judge Maria Mapani-Kawimbe found that the Forum had not met the legal threshold for the interim relief sought.

She noted that both parties had strayed into arguing the merits of the main petition, which was beyond the scope of the interim application.

Judge Kawimbe held that the petitioners failed to demonstrate irreparable harm, observing that the Committee’s work was part of an ongoing process with “no perceptible result” yet.

“In my view, the damage or threat to the Constitution that the petitioners allege must be so real that the Court should not unmistakenly overlook it.

As far as I discern from the material before me, the petitioners have failed to demonstrate that they stand to suffer irreparable damage if the conservatory order is not granted,” she ruled.

On the balance of convenience, the Court further held that public interest favoured allowing the Committee to continue its work.

The judge cautioned that a conservatory order should not create conditions that favour one party before the matter was fully heard.

She concluded that the petitioners had not satisfied the requirements for a conservatory order and dismissed the application, with each party bearing its own costs.

The main petition, filed on November 17, 2025, will proceed to determine the constitutionality of the Committee’s establishment and operations.

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