ZANU PF’S CONSTITUTIONAL COUP TO EXTEND MNANGAGWA’S RULE IS A BETRAYAL OF DEMOCRACY
Zimbabwe is once again on the brink of a constitutional crisis. The Zanu PF party has resolved to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rule beyond the 2028 constitutional limit, staging what many have called a brazen constitutional coup. At its recent annual conference in Mutare, the party, led by its legal affairs secretary Ziyambi Ziyambi, declared its intention to amend the constitution and allow Mnangagwa to stay in office until 2030. This dangerous resolution, now set in motion, confirms what many Zimbabweans have long feared — that this government has no respect for the constitution or the will of the people.
What makes this move even more alarming is that it’s part of a larger pattern across Africa. From Rwanda to Ivory Coast, Togo to Cameroon, aspiring dictators and entrenched rulers have found increasingly deceptive ways to extend their grip on power. They manipulate constitutions, abolish term limits, and eliminate genuine presidential elections — all under the false banner of continuity, stability, and reform. Mnangagwa, who came to power through a coup in 2017 promising a new chapter, is now marching in the footsteps of the very dictator he helped remove — Robert Mugabe.
Civil society, opposition parties, and legal experts have all raised red flags, describing Zanu PF’s latest move as not only unconstitutional but morally bankrupt. Extending a presidential term through a mere parliamentary amendment sidesteps the will of the people. Legal scholars insist that this drastic change would require not one, but two referenda. But Zanu PF knows a referendum could be its downfall. A popular vote might expose Mnangagwa’s weakening legitimacy and irreparably fracture the party. This is why they are desperate to avoid public input — because they know the public will reject it.
What’s more, this push comes amid intensifying succession battles within Zanu PF itself. Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga is said to be vehemently opposed to the extension. The battle is not just constitutional — it is personal, political, and deeply factional. Mnangagwa’s continued presence in power is not about leadership or vision. It’s about self-preservation. It’s about shielding his family, allies, and cronies from accountability for corruption, repression, and economic destruction.
The hypocrisy is staggering. Mnangagwa once declared that he would step down in 2028, in respect of the constitution. Yet he has not denounced his party’s new plan — a deafening silence that speaks volumes. Behind closed doors, his allies are already pushing legislation to cement his stay in power. This is not governance. It is theft. It is betrayal. It is the exact behavior Zimbabweans fought against during the Mugabe era. Mnangagwa has been in government for 45 years. Instead of leading Zimbabwe into a new democratic future, he is clinging to the past, determined to die in office like so many other tyrants across the continent.
This trend of abolishing term limits is not just a Zimbabwean issue. It is a continental threat. Since 2002, 14 African countries have scrapped or extended term limits. Now, 30 out of 54 operate without them. Yet Afrobarometer surveys show that more than 75% of Africans support term limits. The people want democracy, but the leaders want dynasties. They fear accountability. They fear justice. They fear the people.
Zimbabwe worked hard to rebuild after Mugabe. The introduction of term limits was one of the few gains of the post-coup era. But Mnangagwa is now tearing that down. This is not leadership. It is tyranny disguised as reform. Zimbabweans must resist this betrayal. The price of silence is another decade of decay. The struggle continues.
