By Mwansa Kaumba
The government will proceed to conduct the inauguration of President Hakainde Hichilema for his second and last term of office on September 01, 2026, as the Judiciary has not received any petition to his election.
In a statement today, Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa stated that the seven-days within which the President’s election should have been challenged has expired.
”This serves to inform the nation that the expiration of seven days provision allowed for filing in a petition challenging a Presidential election, the Judiciary has not received any petition,” stated Kangwa. “In this regard, the swearing-in of the President-elect, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema will be held on Tuesday 1st September 2026 in accordance with the provisions of Article 105 of the Constitution of Zambia Act No. 2 of 2016. The venue for the inauguration ceremony shall be communicated in due course.”
This is coming against the backdrop where the courts were closed across the whole country ‘for security reasons’ on what was to be the last day for filing-in the petition against the President’s election.
In a statement a few hours earlier from Kangwa’s statement announcing the inauguration, Chief Justice Malila acknowledged receipt of an electronic mail communication sent to his private email address by a member of the public, though he referred to the same manner of communication as “highly irregular.”
In a statement by the deputy director for corporate communications Kalumba Chisambisha-Slavin, Justice Malila indicated that the email contained documentation designated as “the people’s presidential petition”, which sought to challenge the outcome of the presidential election held on August 13, 2026.
He stated that the Judiciary was aware of ongoing assertions on social media claiming that the petition had been formally filed.
”While the Chief Justice finds the mode of communication of official court documents through this private address to be highly irregular, he has quite exceptionally, using his administratively powers, referred the documents received to the Constitutional Court for its consideration on the issue of the filing of the petition and expects that the affected party will hear from that court in due course,” stated Chisambisha-Slavin.
LCK Freedom Foundation executive director Linda Kasonde and human rights activist Brebner Changala are said to have electronically filed the petition to the Chief Justice following the closure of court premises by the government.
