WAR veterans are set to meet in the capital, Harare, tomorrow to deliberate on a controversial bid by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s loyalists to push for amendments to the constitution so that he extends his term of office beyond 2028.
Mnangagwa’s second and last term of office expires in 2028, according to the constitution.
Legal experts have said any amendment to the constitution on the presidential term limit requires a referendum, with the incumbent not benefiting.
Mnangagwa’s loyalists have been stampeding to pledge public support for the President to remain in office beyond 2028 under the guise of wanting him to fulfil his 2030 vision.
The party’s organs, particularly the youth and women’s league and provincial executives, have been subjected to pressure to also endorse the 2030 agenda.
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Only war veterans, a key pillar of Zanu PF dating back to the liberation struggle, have not publicly stated their position on the matter.
Mnangagwa is reportedly eyeing to consolidate his power using the upcoming war veterans congress to bury presidential ambitions of his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
There are three different Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) structures led by Christopher Mutsvangwa, Moffat Marashwa and Andrease Mathibela.
“We have said it before that we are against any moves for authoritarianism through subverting the constitution to support the 2030 agenda,” sources within the ZNLWVA said.
“It is in this vein that we are meeting tomorrow to deliberate and make our position known on this 2030 agenda; and also on Zanu PF’s succession.”
Mnangagwa has claimed that he wants to retire when his term of office expires, but critics have cast doubt on him being genuine citing his failure to call his loyalists to order.
Mathibela on Friday confirmed tomorrow’s meeting when contacted for comment.
“We will hold a crucial press conference on Tuesday after our deliberations on Monday,” he said.
Sources say Mnangagwa is aware that the war veterans have more influence on the security sector, particularly the military that ousted his predecessor Robert Mugabe in 2017, as some of the members are still serving.
Mathibela also alleged that there was a plot by the state to silence ex-combatants by 'provoking' them so that they would get locked up.
He said this after police blocked a crucial Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) stakeholder meeting that was set for Stanley Square in Makokoba, Bulawayo, yesterday to deliberate on various issues including the return of their properties.
ZPRA was the military wing of Zapu during the armed struggle.
The state seized ZPRA properties that include farms in the 1980s after alleging the discovery of arms caches, precipitating the Gukurahundi massacres in Midlands and Matabeleland.
At least 20 000 people were killed, according to reports.
“This is not the first time that they have blocked our war veterans' meetings; and it is clear that this is an attempt to provoke us so that they jail us, and stop us from speaking out on the Zimbabwe question,” Mathibela said.
According to police, the planned meeting did not meet Maintenance of Peace and Order Act regulations.
“Please be advised that your notification does not meet requirements stipulated in the MPA Act, hence it was not sanctioned by the regulating authority,” officer commanding Police, Bulawayo West District one K Nyaumwe wrote to the ZPRA stakeholder's convenor Jonathan Nkanyezi.
Analysts say the military will play a key role in Zanu PF succession politics like they did when they intervened in 2017 to remove Mugabe.
The Zimbabwe Democracy Institute in its latest analysis on Zanu PF succession politics said the military will act as the ultimate arbiter in this power struggle.
“It is highly likely that the military will once again play a decisive role in resolving the party’s present day elite discohesion,” the ZDI said in its analysis titled: Fractured front: Analysing Zanu PF’s contradictions over third term politics.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition chairperson, Peter Mutasa, said they had started mobilising citizens including those in Zanu PF to resist the 2030 agenda.
“We reiterate that defiance to authoritarianism can never be a crime,” Mutasa said.
“As part of efforts to promote constitutionalism, the CiCZ has set up 30 constitutional hubs across the country, and these structures will be key in our struggle to protect the constitution of Zimbabwe from mutilation.”
Last week, Zanu PF spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa told journalists that Mnangagwa was duty bound to respect the presidential term limits.
“So he was involved at each and every stage of the drafting of this document (constitution),” Mutsvangwa said.
“His mandate in 2023 was based on this particular constitution. And as a constitutionalist, he is true to that document....
“And being a lawyer and a constitutionalist, and a revolutionary, it should not be proper probably with the propriety that he was one of the key drafters.
“So that is his position, and that is also the constitutional position.”
