State House Denies Ordered Court Closure, Defends Handling of Election Petition Window

State House has denied claims that President Hakainde Hichilema ordered the closure of Zambia's courts to prevent the opposition from filing election petitions, in a statement issued 25 August by Chief Communications Specialist Clayson Hamasaka.

State House said it had "noted with concern" claims that Hichilema ordered the closure "to prevent the opposition from filing election petitions," calling the allegation "inconsistent with both the constitutional order and the available facts." The statement said Hichilema "has neither the constitutional authority nor the power to determine when, how or from whom the courts receive filings," describing the Judiciary as an independent arm of the state and stressing the President's commitment to the principle of separation of powers.

On the closure itself, State House referred to the Inspector General of Police's earlier statement, saying the security risk assessments were "not directed at the Judiciary alone" but covered selected premises under the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security, the National Prosecution Authority and the Attorney General's Chambers. "A precautionary measure applied across several arms and departments of Government cannot reasonably be presented as an operation aimed at a single litigant," the statement said. It added that court suspensions are not without precedent, pointing to disrupted sittings during the Covid-19 pandemic as an earlier example of an administrative response to conditions on the ground, after which normal business resumed.

On timing, State House said the Electoral Commission of Zambia declared the presidential result on Tuesday, 18 August, opening the constitutional window for a petition that day, and that "the courts sat, received filings and transacted business on the working days that followed," with no petition against the presidential result lodged during that period. "The law fixes the outer limit of the filing period; it does not require a petitioner to wait until its final hours to approach the court," the statement said, adding that anyone who says a petition was prepared but prevented from being filed should "produce it, together with evidence of when and how an attempt was made to lodge it."

State House said security measures affecting physical access to premises "should not be conflated with the denial of judicial remedy," and that the remedies available under Zambian law "remain exactly what the Constitution provides."

The statement closed by saying "the election is over," that those with legitimate grievances "are entitled to pursue every remedy the law provides, and Government will not stand in their way," and that President Hichilema "respects the constitutional independence of Zambia's institutions and will continue to do so," calling on Zambia to "move forward peacefully, constitutionally and together."