Claim:
A Facebook page named “Zambia for All 2026” on March 2, 2026, published posts of purported press release by State House alleging that Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia, had dissolved Parliament with immediate effect.
The same page later the same day published a similar post claiming that the President had issued an apology to Zambians for the alleged dissolution of parliament.
Verification
iVerify Zambia investigations have once again determined as false the claims by this Facebook page that President Hakainde Hichilema had dissolved Parliament and issued an apology.
Apart from the numerous flaws in the features of the letterhead, Article 81(1) that the fake press release cites refers to the term of Parliament, and not the powers of the President to dissolve Parliament. The powers of the President to dissolve Parliament are enshrined in Article 81(4) which clearly stipulates circumstances under which this can happen, following an outlined procedure The Articles states, “subject to clauses (5), (6) and (7), the President may dissolve Parliament in the Executive cannot effectively govern the Republic due to the failure of the National Assembly to objectively and reasonably carry out its legislative function”.
In this regard, Article 81(5) and (6) provides that the President should inform the public of his intentions to dissolve Parliament and refer the matter, within seven days, to the Constitutional Court, which must hear and rule on the matter before dissolution of parliament can go ahead.
Given the above scenario and in the absence of official communication from the President’s office on the alleged dissolution of Parliament by the President, the current Parliament shall stand dissolved in May 2026, ninety days before August 2026 General Election in accordance with Article 81(3) of the Constitution.
Further, this claim appears on a platform with questionable credibility and documented record of publishing misleading or unverified information, including the use of fake letterheads, signatures, and date stamps. As such, its reliability is questionable and readers are advised to treat content originating from this source with heightened caution.
Evidence:
The Constitution of Zambia
https://www.constitution.gov.zm/files/Acts_No_13_of_2025_Constitution_of_Zambia.pdf
