National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) president Professor Lovemore Madhuku has accused authorities of deploying more than 50 police officers to block a party leadership meeting aimed at coordinating opposition to Zimbabwe’s recently enacted constitutional amendments.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Madhuku said the operation had failed after the meeting was moved to an undisclosed location.
“Today the regime deployed over 50 police officers at the NCA Head Office to block the holding of a leadership meeting, but it FAILED in its tracks,” Madhuku wrote.
“The NCA meeting proceeded at a venue unknown to the oppressors. We recommitted ourselves to stopping the CAA3 agenda. We will win.”
The meeting comes amid the NCA’s ongoing campaign against the Constitution of Zimbabwe (Amendment) Act, No. 6 of 2026, commonly referred to as CAB3, which President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently signed into law.
The legislation introduces sweeping constitutional changes, including extending the terms of the President and Parliament from five to seven years and replacing direct presidential elections with a system under which Members of Parliament elect the President in a joint sitting of both Houses.
The changes have drawn strong criticism from opposition parties, constitutional lawyers and civil society organisations, who argue that they weaken democratic accountability and concentrate executive power.
Madhuku has emerged as one of CAB3’s most vocal critics.
Following President Mnangagwa’s assent to the legislation, he declared that the fight against the amendments would continue both inside and outside the courts.
“ED’s signing into law of CAB 3 was always going happen. It must be said again and again that that signature is NOTHING and that the people of Zimbabwe will never allow CAB 3 to have effect,” he wrote on 7 July.
“It is now war in TWO battlegrounds: courts and peaceful political resistance. We will win.”
Tuesday’s events come just months after Madhuku himself was assaulted during another NCA meeting in Harare.
On 1 March 2026, unidentified men wearing balaclavas forced their way into the party’s headquarters and attacked participants during a consultative meeting on Constitutional Amendment No. 3.
Madhuku, who was treated in hospital after the assault, alleged that the attackers beat him with baton sticks while police officers stationed nearby failed to intervene.
According to Madhuku, the meeting had been convened to reaffirm the party’s opposition to the constitutional amendments.
“We wanted to confirm our stance that we are opposed to it and we will do everything to stop it,” he said at the time.
He further alleged that two police vehicles were parked nearby during the attack but officers remained inside their vehicles as the assault unfolded.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police denied any involvement.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi said no officers had been deployed to monitor the meeting and that police were investigating what had occurred.
“No police personnel were deployed to oversee or monitor the meeting in question. The ZRP is keen to know what actually transpired on the alleged attack on Professor Madhuku and his team,” Nyathi said.
There was no immediate response from the Zimbabwe Republic Police to Madhuku’s latest allegations that officers attempted to prevent Tuesday’s leadership meeting.
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