President Hakainde Hichilema has asked the National Assembly to approve a reorganisation of government ministries, State House announced on Monday 26 October. According to a press statement issued in Lusaka by the Chief Communications Specialist, Clayson Hamasaka, and reported by the Lusaka Times, News Diggers, Zambia Monitor, Open Zambia and the Zambian Observer, the President wrote to Parliament under Article 92(2)(d) of the Constitution, the provision under which the establishment, merger and dissolution of ministries requires the approval of the House.
The statement says the request is for the "proposed establishment, merger and dissolution of Government Ministries", and that the Vice-President, Mutale Nalumango, will move the motion on the floor of the House. Zambia Monitor quotes the statement as describing the exercise as a step to "realign Government Ministries as a measure to enhance the efficiency of Government". The Lusaka Times reports the stated aim as ensuring that "the machinery of Government fully supports the Grow Zambia Agenda", the economic programme of the President's second term, and improving public service delivery. The President, the statement adds, "has therefore called on Members of Parliament to support the realignment, which is in the best interest of the country."
What has not been said
None of the five reports names a single ministry to be created, merged or closed, and none gives a date for the debate. The Lusaka Times says those details are expected when the Vice-President tables the motion; Zambia Monitor says the proposal is expected to be debated in coming sittings. The Lusaka Times also sets out what normally follows parliamentary approval: ministers have to be appointed to any new ministries, staff moved across and budget lines redrawn, changes that would then show up in the national budget. The 2027 budget is due to be presented on Friday 30 October, as Lusaka Brief reported on Monday.
The same paper draws the contrast with 2021. Soon after taking office, the President created the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, the Ministry of Technology and Science and the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development, and merged or dissolved others; Parliament took the matter up in September that year, after the event. This time, the Lusaka Times notes, approval is being sought before any change takes effect. It expects the ruling UPND to have the numbers to pass the motion, and expects opposition MPs to press on the cost of new ministries, on what happens to staff in merged or dissolved ones, and on whether service delivery will actually improve.
A Cabinet of four
The request arrives while most ministries still have no substantive minister. The President was sworn in on 1 September after the 13 August election. On 14 September he swore in his first four ministers: Situmbeko Musokotwane, reappointed to Finance and National Planning; Mulambo Haimbe, returning to Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Gilbert Siame at Green Economy and Environment; and Roma Chilengi at Health, according to a report by Bénin Web TV. News Diggers reported on Monday that no further appointments have followed, and that some UPND officials have defended the delay on the ground that the Constitution sets no deadline for naming a Cabinet. Lusaka Brief reported on Friday 23 October that the President had re-appointed his seven presidential advisers while the Cabinet was still awaited; that remains the position. The debate over the delay, and the political scientist Neo Simutanyi's call for the ruling party to censure the President over it, is reported separately in this edition.
The Zambian Observer's account of the State House statement places the realignment in the context of the Grow Zambia targets the government has set itself: 10,000 MW of generation capacity, ten million tonnes of maize, five million tourists a year, three million tonnes of copper and US$1 billion in beef exports. Which ministries would carry which of those targets is the question the motion will have to answer.
What to watch
- The text of the Vice-President's motion: which ministries are created, merged or dissolved
- The date of the debate, and whether it comes before or after Friday's budget speech
- Whether the full Cabinet is named once the new structure is approved
- The cost: new ministries mean new ministers, permanent secretaries and budget lines
Confirmed vs. alleged
Confirmed: That the President has written to Parliament under Article 92(2)(d) seeking approval for the establishment, merger and dissolution of ministries, that the Vice-President will move the motion, and that the stated purpose is efficiency and alignment with the Grow Zambia Agenda: State House statement of 26 October as reported by the Lusaka Times, News Diggers, Zambia Monitor, Open Zambia and the Zambian Observer. That four ministers were sworn in on 14 September: Bénin Web TV.
Alleged or unverified: Which ministries are affected, how many there will be, what the changes will cost and when the House will debate the motion. None of this has been published. Suggested lists of ministries circulating in commentary, including one appended to the Zambian Observer's report, are the authors' proposals, not the government's.
Sources: Lusaka Times, “Hichilema Asks Parliament To Approve A Reshuffle Of Government Ministries” (26 Oct 2026); Lusaka Times, “President Hichilema Seeks Parliamentary Approval To Restructure Govt Ministries” (26 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “HH seeks Parley approval to merge, dissolve govt ministries” (26 Oct 2026); Zambia Monitor, “Developing Story: Zambian govt moves to dissolve, merge, align ministries” (26 Oct 2026); Open Zambia, “Hichilema Seeks Parliamentary Approval to Realign Ministries Behind the Grow Zambia Agenda” (26 Oct 2026); Zambian Observer, “Hichilema seeks parliamentary approval to restructure ministries for Grow Zambia agenda” (26 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “Don't justify HH's delay in appointing Cabinet, censure him, Simutanyi tells UPND” (26 Oct 2026); Bénin Web TV, “Zambia: Hichilema reappoints Musokotwane as Finance Minister after reelection” (14 Sep 2026).