Zambian authorities face international condemnation following the September 11 revocation of passports belonging to high-profile opposition leaders, academics, and political commentators.
Amnesty International has warned that the government is weaponizing state machinery to suppress dissent.
Official notices cited “national security interests” as the justification for invalidating the travel documents of several figures, including former Ambassador to Ethiopia and AU Representative Emmanuel Mwamba, academic Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa, former opposition MPs Binwell Mpundu and Emmanuel Jay Banda, former State House aide Kaizer Zulu, and prominent blogger Lillian Mutambo.
Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, strongly criticized the move as an arbitrary abuse of state power.
“By weaponizing citizenship documents to target dissidents, activists, or political opponents, authorities explicitly breach the right to freedom of movement enshrined in Article 12 of the ICCPR,” Chikwanda said in a statement.
She added that stripping critics of their travel credentials creates a condition of “de facto statelessness,” depriving individuals of basic civil protections and social identity. Amnesty is demanding an immediate reversal of the order and full restoration of the revoked passports.
The passport cancellations mark the latest escalation in a broader post-election crackdown on opposition figures and political dissidents. Rights monitors have documented increasing instances of arbitrary detentions, police harassment, and physical violence across the country—highlighted recently by the killing of former Cabinet Minister Mutotwe Kafwaya during a security force operation.
Legal analysts point out that Zambia’s Passports and Citizenship Act restricts revocation to specific conditions, such as identity fraud, loss of citizenship, or severe criminal convictions. Critics argue that using broad “national security” claims to bypass these statutory limits sets a dangerous political precedent.
