Opposition leader and constitutional lawyer Douglas Mwonzora has asserted that Zimbabwe’s Constitution is designed to make it extremely difficult for anyone to amend and extend the presidential term limit.
Mwonzora was commenting on the ongoing debate about President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s alleged plan to extend his term of office beyond the constitutionally mandated two-term limit, which is supposed to end in 2028. His supporters continue to call for the extension of his rule.
But Mwonzora has cited Section 328 of the Constitution, which states that any amendments to the term limit clause must undergo the normal legislative processes and ultimately be put to a referendum.
The referendum would pose a simple question: whether or not to extend the presidential term limit. If the referendum succeeds, the amendment would not benefit the incumbent president, in this case, President Mnangagwa.
“The Constitution was designed to make it almost impossible for anybody to amend and extend the term limit,” Mwonzora said.
“So, in terms of section 328, if anybody wants to amend the clause that deals with the term limit, the amendment must go through the normal processes but end up with the referendum.
This referendum is simply a referendum with a referendum question on whether or not the presidential term limit has to be extended.
Mwonzora who is one of the people who drafted the current constitution together with Mnangagwa himself, said to allow the incumbent to benefit, a second, person-specific referendum would be required, asking voters if President Mnangagwa should be granted a third term.
“Notably, these referendums cannot be held within six months of each other.
Mwonzora emphasized that the Constitution’s design makes it nearly impossible to extend the presidential term limit.
“After that, assuming that the referendum succeeds, in the sense that people vote for the amendment, the clause goes on to say that the resulting amendment does not benefit the incumbent.
“So, if people want the incumbent to benefit, in this particular case, President Mnangagwa, then there must be another referendum in which the referendum question is simply that should President Mnangagwa have a third term or not. It will be a person specific.
“Now, these referendums must not be within six months of each other. They must be more than six months of each other. So, it is almost an impossibility,” Mwonzora stated.
Mnangagwa has, on several occasions, denied harbouring any plans to extend his term of office, calling himself a constitutionalist. He said the ruling Zanu-PF party will choose his successor at the congress in 2027.
The President has also failed to endorse his deputy Constantino Chiwenga as his successor. This has caused factionalism within the party, with war veterans allegedly backing Chiwenga.
