A DISTURBING alliance of Zanu PF and Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislators appears to be conspiring to undermine Zimbabwe’s constitution by proposing to defer the 2028 elections.
If this audacious plan succeeds, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s constitutionally defined term, set to end in 2028, would be extended to 2030, along with parliamentary tenures.
This move reeks of self-interest, as legislators stand to benefit financially from the extended stay in Parliament.
Ironically, President Mnangagwa has repeatedly stated that he is committed to upholding constitutional limits and has no intention of serving beyond 2028.
Yet, his actions suggest otherwise. Mnangagwa has entertained Zanu PF affiliates at his farm, who openly advocate for his indefinite stay in power, citing his so-called “sterling track record”.
Just last week, CCC legislators aligned to its self-styled secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu trooped to his Precabe farm in Kwekwe where they buttressed the motion to postpone the elections in 2028.
Within Zanu PF, hawkish factions have also championed extending Mnangagwa’s rule. In 2023, the party resolved to grant him an additional two years, a clear precursor to the current motion.
Worryingly, most legislators pushing for the constitutional amendment are beneficiaries of Tshabangu’s Parliamentary recalls that decimated the CCC, once led by Nelson Chamisa.
- Chamisa party defiant after ban
- Village Rhapsody: How Zimbabwe can improve governance
- News in depth: Partisan police force persecutes opposition, shields Zanu PF rogue elements
- Chamisa chilling death threat bishop defiant
Keep Reading
When Tshabangu unleashed the wave of recalls, which were implemented by Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda, Chamisa, in his resignation letter from CCC, underscored that the opposition party had been hijacked by Zanu PF.
As the push to rewrite Zimbabwe’s supreme law gets into overdrive, Zanu PF and CCC legislators are sponsoring a motion to suspend elections by five years, not two years, as has been widely reported.
Should this motion pass, Mnangagwa, now 83, would remain in office until 2033 — at the age of 92.
Supporters of this motion cynically frame it as a “golden opportunity for Zimbabweans to unite”.
However, no genuine opposition leader, least of all Tshabangu — now a senator hobnobbing with Zanu PF — can claim to represent the democratic aspirations of the people.
With a pliant opposition in Parliament, Zimbabwe stands to regress into the dark era of a defacto one-party state. The age of multi-party politics, the hall mark of democracy will be dead.
This evokes memories of the troubling moves of Zanu PF’s early post-independence years, when the party sought to legislate a one-party state. History must not repeat itself. Genuine democrats from all political affiliations must unite to block this treacherous motion and defend the democratic foundations of our nation.
Zimbabwe cannot afford to lose its hard-won democratic gains to self-serving political elites.
