By Leopold Munhende
CONSTITUTIONAL law expert Professor Lovemore Madhuku has trashed Zanu PF’s attempts to illegally extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s second term to 2030.
Despite initially professing ignorance, analysts believe it is now clear Mnangagwa wants to hang on beyond his constitutionally mandated two terms using a combination of possible legal lacuna, manipulation of constitutional provisions and monetary rewards for Parliamentarians.
Madhuku, who is strongly opposed to the idea, was speaking to online news platform 263Chat.
“We do not know how they intend to do it; they have not indicated how they would want to amend the constitution but what is very clear is that it is not possible to ensure that when the president’s term ends in 2028, he remains in office beyond 2028,” said Madhuku.
“There is no legal mechanism of doing it as it currently stands.”
Passed as a resolution at Zanu PF’s Bulawayo congress in 2024, extending Mnangagwa’s term has dominated Zimbabwean politics since then, further dividing an already fragile society that is still traumatised by late President Robert Mugabe’s lengthy stay in power.
Mugabe was in power for 37 years, eventually losing power in a military-backed coup in 2017.
With Section 91 (2) limiting Presidents’ stay in office to two five-year terms and demanding a referendum to change it, Zanu PF is understood to have devised a way around it, completely avoiding the general population’s involvement.
Added Madhuku: “The kind of amendments they are talking about are not possible without a referendum. There are a few things you can amend without going for a referendum but if you want to tamper with the term of office of the president, the exercise of executive powers or the structure of the state, you cannot avoid a referendum.
“This idea of avoiding a referendum means that they know that this proposal is not popular with the people.”
Exiled former government minister, Jonathan Moyo, who is behind a document (Breaking Barriers Initiative) said to not just map the way for Zanu PF but suspend elections, believes Mnangagwa’s term can legally be “lengthened” without going to a referendum.
A well-respected think-tank, Moyo’s work with Zanu PF indicates a party determined to extend Mnangagwa’s term, which will mean shutting the door of succession on his deputy Constantino Chiwenga, who is eagerly waiting for a shot at the presidency.
“The Constitution’s sole presidential term limit on the officeholder lies in Section 91(2)’s two-term bar, which would remain untouched by a term length amendment to Section 95(2)(b),” said Moyo on X.
“Amending section 95(2)(b) to seven years, for instance, would simply recalibrate this flexible duration, enabling the extension to 2030 via a two-thirds vote in each House in Parliament—free from the “dictates” of sections 328(6)– (9).”
Professor Lovemore Madhuku
Attempts to extend Mnangagwa’s stay are part of factional fights within the ruling party.
Mnangagwa’s continued stay will be a boon for his preferred successor, businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, who recently joined the party’s powerful Central Committee.
For Chiwenga, it would mean going back to the drawing board, or as some have predicted, planning and executing another coup as he did in 2017.
“It is wrong for any political party on its own to want to impose a constitution on the people,” added Madhuku.
“Term limits are actually imposed to limit very good presidents. They were invented to ensure that a person would not remain in office merely because they were doing well…which is why some of the best presidents have had to leave.
“Term limits are for good presidents; you do not need term limits for a poor president who will obviously be removed in an election.”