Zambia’s constitution-making exercise initiated in 2011 is at a critical crossroads because of ambiguities over the modes of validating the draft document, and eventually adopting and enacting the final constitution. Calls from civil society organisations and opposition political parties for the government to establish dialogue mechanisms on the future of the process have gone unheeded. Concerns that the government will eventually unilaterally endorse and adopt a contentious constitution are rife. Adopting such a constitution is expected to have dire implications for the country’s security and political stability, particularly in the context of the next general elections in 2016. This situation report focuses on the challenges of Zambia’s constitution- making exercise and recommends how the process can be managed to enhance its popular legitimacy while contributing towards political stability.

About the author:

Dimpho Motsamai is a researcher with the Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis division of the Institute for Security Studies. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg South Africa and publishes extensively on governance and conflict dynamics in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

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