HARARE
–
A
Zanu
PF
politburo
meeting
billed
as
potentially
explosive
proceeded
without
the
two
vice
presidents
in
Harare
on
Wednesday,
as
the
party’s
top
decision-making
body
gathered
for
its
last
session
before
parliament
votes
on
sweeping
constitutional
amendments
that
would
also
extend
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
rule.
Vice
President
Constantino
Chiwenga
reportedly
opposes
the
changes,
while
Vice
President
Kembo
Mohadi
has
been
non-committal.
Mnangagwa
appeared
at
the
meeting
flanked
by
Zanu
PF
secretary
Jacob
Mudenda
and
party
chair
Oppah
Muchinguri,
where
otherwise
Chiwenga
and
Mohadi
would
have
sat.
In
public
comments
while
reporters
were
present,
Mnangagwa
made
no
reference
to
the
push
for
his
term
extension.
Presidency
spokesman
George
Charamba
told
ZimLive
the
two
deputies
were
“on
government
assignments,”
declining
to
elaborate.
Zanu
PF’s
politburo,
the
main
decision-making
body
between
party
congresses,
meets
once
at
the
beginning
of
every
month.
Wednesday’s
gathering
was
the
last
before
the
parliamentary
vote
–
a
moment
critics
say
will
determine
whether
Zimbabwe’s
post-Mugabe
constitutional
order
survives
its
most
serious
test
since
the
new
constitution
was
adopted
in
2013.
The
Constitution
of
Zimbabwe
Amendment
(No.
3)
Bill,
gazetted
on
February
16,
proposes
extending
presidential
and
parliamentary
terms
from
five
to
seven
years,
replacing
the
direct
popular
election
of
the
president
with
election
by
a
joint
sitting
of
parliament,
and
enlarging
the
Senate
from
80
to
90
members
–
with
the
president
empowered
to
appoint
10
additional
senators.
Transitional
provisions
state
that
the
new
seven-year
term
would
apply
to
the
continuation
in
office
of
the
current
president,
notwithstanding
the
general
prohibition
on
the
retroactive
amendment
of
term
limits
under
section
328(7)
of
the
constitution.
In
practical
terms,
the
bill
would
keep
Mnangagwa
in
office
until
2030,
two
years
beyond
the
2028
expiry
date
of
his
current
and
constitutionally
final
term.
He
turns
84
this
year.
The
bill
would
also
abolish
the
Zimbabwe
Gender
Commission
and
the
National
Peace
and
Reconciliation
Commission,
transferring
their
functions
to
the
Zimbabwe
Human
Rights
Commission,
and
strip
the
Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission
of
its
responsibility
for
the
voters’
roll,
handing
it
to
the
Registrar-General.
The
government
has
framed
the
changes
as
modernising
reforms.
A
cabinet
statement
said
the
amendments,
if
passed,
would
“enhance
political
stability
and
policy
continuity
to
allow
development
programmes
to
be
implemented
to
completion.”
Critics,
however,
say
the
bill
should
be
subjected
to
a
national
referendum,
and
that
the
consultative
hearings
–
held
over
just
four
days,
on
weekdays,
at
a
limited
number
of
venues
–
were
rushed
and
exclusionary.
With
Zanu
PF
holding
a
commanding
parliamentary
majority,
the
bill
is
widely
expected
to
pass.
The
political
temperature
around
the
amendment
spilled
across
the
border
last
Sunday,
when
Mnangagwa
received
South
African
President
Cyril
Ramaphosa
at
his
farm
surrounded
by
his
business
acolytes,
with
neither
of
his
deputies
present.
The
informal
nature
of
the
gathering
at
Mnangagwa’s
450-hectare
Pricabe
farm
outside
Kwekwe
has
drawn
criticism
in
both
countries.
The
South
African
presidency
said
on
Thursday
it
had
“noted
with
concern”
that
Ramaphosa
had
flown
on
a
military
helicopter
to
Kwekwe
alongside
Mnangagwa
and
“a
person
of
interest”
to
South
African
law
enforcement
–
a
reference
to
the
tenderpreneur
Wicknell
Chivayo,
who
is
under
investigation
for
alleged
money
laundering
over
payments
linked
to
Zimbabwe’s
2023
election
procurement.
Also
aboard
the
short
flight
was
Kudakwashe
Tagwirei,
a
petroleum
tycoon
under
United
States
and
British
sanctions
whose
vast
wealth,
built
largely
on
state
contracts,
is
fuelling
his
ambitions
to
succeed
Mnangagwa.
Tagwirei,
it
is
alleged,
hopes
his
proximity
to
Mnangagwa
can
propel
him
to
high
office,
crossing
swords
with
Chiwenga
who
accuses
him
and
Chivayo
of
“capturing
the
state.”
It
has
been
reported
that
Ramaphosa
urged
Mnangagwa
to
abandon
the
constitutional
amendment,
offering
in
return
to
secure
him
guarantees
of
safety
and
immunity
from
his
would-be
successor
–
who,
under
the
current
Zanu
PF
hierarchy,
would
be
Chiwenga.