As a result of bill 7, which became law, Parliament has been expanded from 165 seats to 281, from 156 elective seats to 226.

While promoters of the delimitation exercise claim it’s about representation, the cost on the Treasury and people of Zambia is extremely enormous.
This brings us to the issue of the intention.

Zambia needs development.

To develop the country, Zambia needs to develop districts and provinces and improve access to the country through telecommunication infrastructure, motorable roads, and an enabling export oriented infrastructure.

It is for this reason that we need to define the role of the MPs and Councilors.

These are mere legislators at best.

A Member of Parliament is an elected official representing a specific constituency.

Their primary roles include representing local constituents’ interests, debating and passing laws (legislation), and scrutinizing government work and expenditure. They balance duties in Parliament and within their local area.

To treat the delimitation exercise as magic wand to achieving development.

The delimitation exercise is the legal process of redrawing parliamentary and assembly constituency boundaries to reflect population changes.

But was this taken into account?

If it were Lusaka, which has the largest population concentrated in a small area, would have received more constituencies than so far allocated.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has unveiled 70 new constituencies following the conclusion of the delimitation exercise.

This development has increased the number of constituencies from 156 to 226.

Arliament has been expanded from 156 elective seats to 226. These are;
 1.⁠ ⁠Copperbelt-29 (22)
 2.⁠ ⁠Eastern Province-29(20) Constituencies
 3.⁠ ⁠Southern Province-29 (20)
 4.⁠ ⁠Western Province-26 (19)
 5.⁠ ⁠Central Province-23 (15)
 6.⁠ ⁠Luapula-20 (15)
 7.⁠ ⁠Northern Province -19 (13)
 8.⁠ ⁠North-Western-19 (12)
 9.⁠ ⁠Lusaka-18 (12)
10.⁠ ⁠Muchinga-14 (8)

The burden on the Treasury is clearly taking a toll.

Imagine a new Landcruiser, allowances, and salaries for 281 MPs.

We remphasise that the country needs more a good model development than it needs an expanded representation.

As stated by Sishuwa Sishuwa, an academic and political scientist, has accused President Hichilema of using a the delimitation exercise to resolve a Party issue of feisty competition in the Party.