Secretary to Cabinet says Hichilema inauguration will go ahead despite petition referral

Patrick Kangwa

Chief Justice Mumba Malila

LUSAKA — The inauguration of President-elect Hakainde Hichilema will go ahead on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa has announced.

Kangwa said the Judiciary had not received any petition challenging the presidential election by the expiry of the seven-day period provided for filing such a petition.

“In this regard, the swearing-in of the President-elect, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, shall be held on Tuesday 1st September 2026,” Kangwa said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The announcement comes hours after Chief Justice Mumba Malila said documents described as “the people’s presidential petition” had been referred to the Constitutional Court for consideration on whether they could constitute a petition.

The Judiciary said the documents had been sent to the Chief Justice’s private email by a member of the public and that the mode of delivery was “highly irregular”.

The Chief Justice, however, used his administrative powers to refer the documents to the Constitutional Court for its consideration on the issue of the filing of the petition.

Kangwa’s statement does not address the documents referred to the Constitutional Court or the Court’s pending consideration of the matter.

Instead, it states that, at the expiry of the seven-day period allowed for filing a presidential election petition, “the Judiciary had not received any petition.”

The conflicting developments have created a potentially significant legal and constitutional question over whether the documents referred to the Constitutional Court can affect the planned inauguration.

For now, however, the Government has maintained that the inauguration will proceed on September 1, with the venue to be announced in due course.