Zambia's president has warned against politically motivated unrest in a strongly worded address on Tuesday, days before a planned demonstration against proposed constitutional amendments ahead of next year's elections.

President Hakainde Hichilema accused the opposition of being behind an incident two weeks ago when he was pelted with stones at a campaign rally in the northern town of Chingola, forcing him to abandon the event.

He said there was a "hidden agenda" behind recent politically linked violence in the Southern African nation, where he is seeking a second five-year term in the August 2026 polls.

"We will not allow any thuggery to return to our streets, to our bus stops, to our public places ever again. You try to do that – the law will be with you," said Hichilema, leader of the centrist United Party for National Development (UPND).

'Unitary state'

"I am firmly sending a message that this is a unitary state... nobody fragments this country," he said.

Tensions have been inflamed by a proposed constitutional amendment that contains a provision to increase the number of constituencies from 156 to 211.

The opposition claims it is an attempt to keep Hichilema in power by redrawing constituencies so his party can win parliamentary seats. The president says some of the existing constituencies are too large to properly manage.

Church and civil society organisations have announced a march to the State House on Friday to protest the timing of the proposed amendments in the countdown to elections.

A separate standoff over the burial of former President Edgar Lungu, from the Patriotic Front (PF), has highlighted the deepening political tensions. Lungu's family has refused to repatriate his body from South Africa – where he died in hospital in June – because Hichilema wanted to preside over the funeral.