By The Rt. Revd. Dr. Musonda Trevor Selwyn Mwamba, President of the United National Independence (UNIP)
The Public Gathering Bill, 2026, widely promoted as a progressive shield for the freedoms of assembly and expression, does the exact opposite. Beneath its democratic rhetoric, the Bill arms “authorized officers” with sweeping powers to crush the very foundations of free speech.
We find this legislative regression deeply alarming. Why is a democratic nation enacting a draconian regulatory framework? In balancing free speech, assembly, and movement against public order, democratic constitutionalism dictates that the state must facilitate rights, not restrict them.
The Public Order Act (POA) is a colonial relic that should have been discarded on October 24, 1964. Originally engineered to stifle nationalist agitation against colonial rulers, the POA was an instrument of state tyranny. It is indefensible that a post-colonial government—anchored by a supreme Constitution and a Bill of Rights—is reviving this oppressive legacy.
Cui bono? To whose benefit does this legislation serve? The Public Order Act should have been repealed entirely, not replaced by an even more restrictive regime.
The sole purpose of any modern public gathering law must be to manage logistics through a pure notification system. Instead, Clause 8 of the new Bill effectively restores police approval over public assemblies. This is a massive step backward. The law should strictly compel police to protect and facilitate peaceful protests upon receiving a notice, without subjecting citizens to backdoor permits.
This legal overreach disregards Zambia’s judicial history. In the landmark 1995 Supreme Court case of Christine Mulundika and 7 Others v. The People, the court firmly declared police permits unconstitutional. This led to the 1996 amendments to Sections 5 and 6 of the POA, establishing a simple seven-day prior notification framework. The 2026 Bill completely betrays that precedent:
The 2026 Bill completely betrays that precedent:
* Vague Police Vetoes: Clause 8 grants law enforcement broad discretion to block meetings under subjective terms like “public order” or “breach of peace,” opening the door to selective targeting of critics.
* Absurd Thresholds: Retaining a threshold of three or seven people to define a “public gathering” is outrageous and impractical and will only trigger an unmanageable volume of mandatory notices, making arbitrary enforcement inevitable.
* Organizer Liability: Organizers will be held legally liable for property damage caused by third-party infiltrators, creating a chilling effect designed to terrify citizens out of protesting.
* Criminalization of Expression: Strict prohibitions on masks, chants, and songs deemed to provoke “hatred” carry prison sentences of up to a year, turning basic political expression into a criminal offense.
The Public Gathering Bill, 2026, is a dangerous game of smoke and mirrors. Its DNA remains identical to the colonial-era Public Order Act, prioritizing state control over constitutional liberties.
The indecent haste with which this complex, regressive legislation is being rushed through Parliament is not only reckless—it is profoundly undemocratic. We call for an immediate halt to this Bill in its current form.
