In Zambia, a ruling party MP's public call to remove presidential term limits — framed as a women's preference for development over democratic constraint — has forced the UPND into the uncomfortable position of neither endorsing nor rejecting the idea. The party's careful non-denial, offered through its Deputy Secretary General, reveals how constitutional questions about executive power rarely arrive as clean debates but instead surface first as trial balloons, testing the political atmosphere before any formal reckoning begins.
UPND distances itself from term limit removal, calls it Chama's personal position
The party was not endorsing the idea, but it was also not rejecting it
Mark
So the UPND is saying this is just Chama's personal view, not party policy. That sounds like a clear distance, doesn't it?
Mimi
It sounds that way, but listen to what they didn't say. Imenda said the party hasn't discussed it. Not that they've discussed it and rejected it—just that they haven't discussed it.
Mark
What's the difference?
Mimi
One closes the door. The other leaves it open. If you say "we've decided we don't support this," that's final. If you say "we haven't discussed it," you're leaving room for a future discussion.
Luke
But we should be careful here. We don't actually know what conversations have happened inside the party. Imenda said they haven't discussed it formally enough to come up with a position. That's different from saying no one in the party has thought about it.
Mimi
Right. And Chama is nominated by the UPND to fill one of those reserved women's seats. She's not some fringe voice.
Mark
So why would the party distance itself at all if they're leaving the door open?
Mimi
Because the proposal is radioactive. Removing term limits touches something fundamental about democracy. You have to say you're not pushing it, even if you're not ruling it out.
Luke
We should also note that Chama's argument—that women want development over democracy—is her claim, not a survey or a formal statement from women's groups. That's important context.
Mark
So the real question is whether the UPND will eventually take a formal position.
Mimi
Exactly. And right now, they're choosing not to.
Der Puls
- MP Florence Chama ignited controversy by arguing that Zambian women prefer development over democracy — and that this justifies keeping President Hichilema in power beyond his constitutional limit.
- The statement was difficult to dismiss: Chama is one of 17 women the UPND itself nominated to fill reserved National Assembly seats, making her no peripheral voice.
- UPND Deputy Secretary General Gertrude Imenda responded by calling the proposal Chama's personal view, but crucially stopped short of saying the party opposes it.
- The admission that the party has not even discussed term limit removal internally transforms a disavowal into an open door — the conversation simply hasn't happened yet.
- Observers are reading the ambiguity as a signal: a party firmly against constitutional amendments to presidential tenure would likely have said so plainly and without hesitation.
In Zambia, a ruling party MP's public call to remove presidential term limits — framed as a women's preference for development over democratic constraint — has forced the UPND into the uncomfortable position of neither endorsing nor rejecting the idea. The party's careful non-denial, offered through its Deputy Secretary General, reveals how constitutional questions about executive power rarely arrive as clean debates but instead surface first as trial balloons, testing the political atmosphere before any formal reckoning begins.
A video circulating online showed UPND MP Florence Chama making a pointed argument: that women in Zambia prioritize development over democracy, and that this preference should translate into support for removing the constitutional limit on presidential terms — allowing President Hakainde Hichilema to remain in office beyond 2031. The statement was striking enough that the ruling party felt it could not simply let it pass.
When pressed for a response, UPND Deputy Secretary General Gertrude Imenda drew a careful line. Chama's position, she said, was personal — not party policy, and not something the UPND had formally adopted. But Imenda went further, acknowledging that the party had not even held internal discussions on the matter. That distinction proved more revealing than reassuring: the UPND was not endorsing the idea, but it was not closing the door on it either.
Chama's standing within the party made her remarks harder to wave away. As one of 17 women nominated by the UPND to fill seats reserved under Zambia's proportional representation system, she occupies a position of real institutional weight. Her framing of term limit removal as a women's welfare issue — rather than a question of executive power — represented a deliberate rhetorical move, one that recast a constitutional debate in the language of development and inclusion.
For those watching Zambian politics closely, the party's non-denial carried its own meaning. A leadership genuinely opposed to amending presidential tenure limits had every opportunity to say so directly. Instead, the answer left open the possibility that a formal party discussion could yet happen — and that it might reach a different conclusion. The ambiguity, in this case, was the story.
A video circulating online showed MP Florence Chama making a striking argument: that women in Zambia would rather have development than democracy, and that this preference meant supporting President Hakainde Hichilema's bid to remain in office beyond 2031—which would require removing the constitutional limit on presidential terms. The statement landed hard enough that the ruling UPND party felt compelled to respond.
When asked about Chama's remarks, UPND Deputy Secretary General Gertrude Imenda offered a careful answer. The proposal to eliminate term limits, she said, was Chama's personal position, not something the party had formally adopted. More notably, Imenda added that the UPND had not even discussed the matter internally to develop an official stance on it. The distinction mattered: the party was not endorsing the idea, but it was also not rejecting it outright.
Chama herself is a significant figure within the party's structure. She is among 17 women nominated by the UPND to fill the 20 National Assembly seats reserved for women under the country's proportional representation system. Her prominence made her comments harder to dismiss as the stray thoughts of a minor party figure. Yet the party's response suggested an effort to create distance without burning bridges—a political maneuver that left the actual position of the UPND on constitutional amendments to presidential tenure genuinely unclear.
The ambiguity was telling. A party leadership that firmly opposed removing term limits might have said so directly. Instead, Imenda's statement left room for interpretation: the party simply had not discussed it yet. That phrasing opened the possibility that such a discussion could happen, and that a different conclusion might follow. For observers watching Zambian politics, the non-denial was itself a kind of signal.
Chama's framing of the issue—positioning term limit removal as a women's development priority rather than as a constitutional power grab—represented a rhetorical strategy worth noting. By anchoring the proposal in the language of women's welfare and economic progress, she attempted to reframe what is fundamentally a question about executive power as a question about whose interests the government serves. Whether that framing would gain traction within the party, or whether the UPND would eventually take a formal position on the matter, remained to be seen.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Women in Zambia want development instead of democracy, and this can only be achieved by supporting President Hichilema to remain in office beyond 2031— MP Florence Chama (paraphrased)
The party has not discussed the issue to come up with a position— UPND Deputy Secretary General Gertrude Imenda (paraphrased)
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