By Bernard Mwila
Zimbabwe’s former minister of education, sports, arts and culture David Coltart has responded to a Reuters story on the closure of the courts in Zambia on the final day of the appeal saying it makes it hard for democrats across Africa to support his government.
”@HHichilema I hope this story is false. I urge you to investigate what is happening as this looks bad and makes it hard for democrats across Africa to support your government,” stated Coltart on his Twitter feed. “There can be no justification for the interference with judicial process.”
Reuters reported that the Zambian authorities closed the country’s top courts on Monday, blocking access to the premises on the last day that the opposition could file a challenge to this month’s disputed election.
And in a joint statement signed by LCK Freedom Foundation executive director Linda Kasonde, the 7 civil society organisations, including Advocates for Democratic Governance, ActionAid Zambia, Carnitas Zambia, Chapter One Foundation, NGOCC and Free Press Initiative (FPI), the organisations denounced the unprecedented shutdown of the entire judiciary on the final day for filing of the presidential election petition, and demanded the immediate resumption of court services.
”The undersigned civil society organisations condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the sudden and total shutdown of the Judiciary of Zambia today, 24 August 2026 — the last day on which a petition challenging the results of the 13 August 2026 presidential election may lawfully be filed under Article 103 of the Constitution,” read the statement in part. “We have received credible reports that court premises across the country have been surrounded by members of the armed forces and security wings, and that judicial services have been suspended in their entirety, on the stated basis of an unspecified and unnamed ‘security threat.’ No further particulars of this alleged threat have been placed before the public. This action is without precedent. At no point in Zambia’s history has the Judiciary —an independent arm of the State under Article 91 of the Constitution — been shut down in its entirety. Nor are we aware of any comparable action having been taken against a fully functioning judiciary in any democratic state.”
The CSOs argued that the closure of every court in the country, enforced by the presence of soldiers at court premises, had no place whatsoever in a constitutional democracy governed by the separation of powers and the rule of law.
”We note with grave concern that this shutdown coincides precisely with the expiry of the seven-day constitutional window within which an aggrieved candidate may petition the Constitutional Court to challenge the outcome of the presidential election. The timing is impossible to ignore. Whether by design or otherwise, the effect of this closure is to deprive Zambians of their constitutional right to have that challenge heard, and to place the legitimacy of the entire electoral process beyond judicial scrutiny,” the statement read in part. “Access to justice is not a privilege to be switched on and off at the convenience of the Executive. It is a foundational constitutional guarantee, protected under Article 118 and the Bill of Rights, and reinforced by Zambia’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The right of access to the courts is meaningless if the courts can simply be closed at the precise moment citizens most need them.”
They called on the judiciary, and in particular the Chief Justice and the Judicial Service, to immediately and unconditionally resume the full operation of all courts, including the Constitutional Court, or alternatively make provision for litigants to file process freely and without intimidation without further delay; 2. The Executive and the security services to immediately and publicly account for
the legal basis, if any, on which this shutdown was ordered; 3. The Government to publicly disclose the nature of the alleged security threat cited as justification for this action, or to admit that no such threat exists,” argued the CSOs. “4. All interested stakeholders, including the Judicial Complaints Commission, the Human Rights Commission, and the Law Association of Zambia, to investigate this closure as a matter of urgency; and 5. The international community, regional bodies including SADC and the African Union, and Zambia’s development partners to take note of this threat to judicial independence and the rule of law in Zambia.”
