Zimbabwean
President Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
bid
for
an
unconstitutional
third
term
turned
violent
this
week.
A
hall
in
Harare
was
torched
hours
before
his
opponents
were
to
meet
there
to
launch
a
campaign
against
his
efforts
to
run
again.
And
in
the
country’s
second
largest
city
Bulawayo,
riot
police
forcefully
prevented
a
similar
meeting
from
taking
place.
Opposition
politicians
intended
to
plan
how
to
stop
the
ruling
Zimbabwe
African
National
Union-Patriotic
Front
(ZANU-PF)
from
implementing
a
critical
resolution
it
adopted
at
its
annual
conference
in
Mutare
earlier
this
month.
The
resolution
noted
that
at
its
previous
conference
on
26
October
2024
in
Bulawayo,
the
party
resolved
that:
‘In
recognition
of
the
extensive
developmental
milestones
and
the
significant
socioeconomic
progress
achieved
under
…
Mnangagwa
…
his
term
of
office
as
President
of
the
Republic
of
Zimbabwe
[should]
be
extended
beyond
2028
to
2030.’
The
absurdity
of
the
claim
that
Zimbabwe
needed
Mnangagwa
to
remain
in power to
continue
his
putative
development
agenda
was
illustrated
by Ringisai
Chikohomero in
a
recent
Institute
for Security Studies
report.
It
showed
an
economy
in
persistent
crisis,
including
an
extreme
poverty
rate
of
over
42%.
ZANU-PF’s
2025
conference
resolution
added
that
no
notable
steps
had
been
taken
to
implement
the
Bulawayo
resolution.
And
so
the
Secretary
of
Legal
Affairs
and
Minister
of
Justice
was
directed
to
ensure
that
before
the
next
annual
conference
in
2026,
the
resolution
was
‘fully
implemented.’
The
party
and
government
were
directed
to
initiate
the
required
legislative
amendments
to
‘give
full
effect’
to
the
resolution.
Zimbabwe’s
2013
constitution
is
clear
that
a
president
may
serve
only
two
terms.
Mnangagwa
came
to power in
2017
after
a
military
coup
that
toppled
the
country’s
founding
president, Robert
Mugabe.
Mnangagwa
was
elected
for
a
first
term
in
2018
and
re-elected
for
a
second
term
in
2023.
That
term
ends
in
2028,
but
now
the
ruling
party
has
decided
to
extend
it
to
2030.
Mnangagwa’s
move
has
been
divisive
not
only
in
the
country,
but
also
inside
ZANU-PF.
Zimbabwe’s
Vice-President Constantino
Chiwenga is
apparently
bitterly
opposed,
because
he
would
likely
succeed
Mnangagwa
if
he
stepped
down
in
2028.
He
strongly
criticised
the
so-called
ED2030
plan
at
a
September
meeting
of
ZANU-PF’s
Politburo.
Bulawayo
mayor David
Coltart,
a
member
of
the
main
opposition
Citizens
Coalition
for
Change
(CCC),
told
ISS
Today:
‘There
is
layer
upon
layer
of
constitutional
safeguards
to
protect’
term
limits.
And
he
should
know
because
he
is
a
lawyer
who
helped
write
the
constitution.
He
says
the
constitution
is
clear
that
the
president
may
serve
just
two
terms
of
five
years
each.
The
safeguards
are,
first,
that
any
amendment
to
the
constitution
requires
a
two-thirds
majority
in
Parliament.
Second,
the
decision
must
be
confirmed
with
a
public
referendum.
Third,
no
such
amendment
may
benefit
an
incumbent.
If
it
were,
then
fourth,
that
decision
would
have
to
be
confirmed
with
a
second
referendum.
Coltart
added
that
section
328,
sub-section
7
of
the
constitution
was
worded
in
such
a
way
that
if
the
effect
of
any
constitutional
amendment
were
to
extend
a
term
limit,
‘then
you
need
a
referendum.
It
doesn’t
matter
how
you
couch
it,
what
language
you
use,
if
the
effect
of
that
is
to
extend
a
term
limit,
it
needs
a
referendum.’
Coltart
was
referring
to
suggestions
from
some
in
ZANU-PF
that
they
might
postpone
the
2028
elections
until
2030,
which
would
implicitly
extend
Mnangagwa’s
term.
But
clearly
he
and
the
other
constitutional
drafters
anticipated
that
possible
ruse.
The
trouble
for
Mnangagwa
is
that
even
one,
let
alone
two,
referenda
on
extending
his
term
would
be
disastrous
for
him,
Coltart
said,
as
opposition
ran
deep
in
the
country
and
even
in
ZANU-PF.
Any
referendum
would
effectively
be
a
referendum
on
Mnangagwa’s
rule,
which
he
would
not
want
right
now.
Coltart
noted
there
had
been
only
two
constitutional
referenda
in
the
past
25
years.
One
in
2000
proposed
a
new
constitution,
which
would
have
increased
presidential
powers
and
allowed
expropriation
without
compensation.
It
became
a
referendum
on
Mugabe’s
rule,
which
he
lost.
The
other
was
the
2013
referendum
on
the
current
constitution,
which
95%
of
the
population
supported.
Neither
outcome
was
favourable
to
Mnangagwa.
Coltart
saw
the
attacks
by
ZANU-PF
thugs
on
the
two
premises
this
week
as
‘a
shot
across
the
bows’
of
any
attempt
to
rally
opposition
against
extending
Mnangagwa’s
term.
Early
Tuesday,
the
SAPES
Trust
premises
in
Harare
were
firebombed,
gutting
the
conference
room
where
the
activists
were
to
meet.
In
Bulawayo,
police
barricaded
the
Bulawayo
Club
where
an
equivalent
meeting
was
planned.
He
also
said
that
with
the
opposition
in
disarray
–
partly
because
ZANU-PF
has
infiltrated
and
undermined
it
–
the
plans
to
amend
the
constitution
had
become
a
rallying
cry
for
Mnangagwa’s
opponents,
inside
and
outside
ZANU-PF.
The
fight
now
seems
to
be
on.
Mnangagwa
is
doing
his
best
to
ensure
the
resolution
to
extend
his
tenure
is
implemented.
Coltart
says
this
includes
gifting
new
cars
to
all
300
members
of
the
ZANU-PF
Central
Committee
before
the
conference,
as
well
as
top-notch
Toyota
Land
Cruisers
to
all
provincial
heads.
Mnangagwa
is
also
believed
to
have
removed
Chiwenga
loyalists
from
key
positions.
All
this
looks
like
preparations
for
a
mighty
battle
between
the
party’s
top
two.
None
of
it
bodes
well
for
stability
or
prosperity
in
an
already
poor
and
unstable
country.
Zimbabwe
Council
of
Churches
General
Secretary Kenneth
Mtata warned
in
a
statement
that
Mnangagwa’s
bid
to
extend
his
term
would
undermine
all
his
efforts
to
re-engage
the
world
and
bring
Zimbabwe
in
from
the
cold.
It
would
also
jeopardise
negotiations
to
restructure
Zimbabwe’s
international
debt,
which
had
been
led
by
the
African
Development
Bank.
And
it
would
discourage
international
investment.
Perhaps
so,
but
that
is
by
no
means
clear
as
an
increasingly
transactional
world
has
lost
much
of
its
interest
in
Zimbabwe
as
a
moral
issue.
Written
by
Peter
Fabricius,
Consultant,
ISS
Pretoria