Zimbabwe's upper house of parliament voted 75-4 on Wednesday in favour of constitutional amendments that will allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030 by extending presidential terms from five to seven years. The bill, which also replaces direct presidential elections with parliamentary appointment of the president, was passed by the lower house last week and is expected to be signed into law by the president next month.
Opposition Condemns 'Constitutional Coup'
Opposition figures fear the changes will further tighten Mnangagwa's hold on power and that of his Zanu-PF party, which has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. Critics claim Zimbabwe could slide back to the repression seen under Robert Mugabe, who resigned in 2017 after 37 years in power following a coup led by Mnangagwa.
Makomborero Haruzivishe, a spokesperson for the Constitutional Defenders Forum (CDF), a group campaigning against the amendments, said: “It is a calculated constitutional coup against the people of Zimbabwe. It strips citizens of the fundamental right to directly elect their president, replacing popular sovereignty with parliamentary selection by a captured legislature.”
Government Defends Changes as Stability Measure
Nick Mangwana, the permanent secretary in Zimbabwe's information ministry, rejected the characterization of a coup: “To characterise this legitimate legislative exercise as a ‘coup’ is not only factually incorrect but deeply disrespectful to the sovereign parliamentary processes of the Republic of Zimbabwe.”
He added: “The primary objective is to enhance political stability and ensure policy continuity … We are not removing presidential term limits, we are simply adjusting the electoral cycle to reduce the frequency of highly contested, polarising elections.” Mangwana also rejected suggestions that the constitutional amendments required a referendum, stating the attorney general found no legal basis for a people's vote.
Harassment Claims Against Opponents
Opponents of the amendments said they have been subjected to harassment and prevented from campaigning. Tendai Biti, one of the CDF's convenors, said security forces barged into his office six times since October 2025. In response to a claim that Biti's driver was assaulted in one such incident in March, police said officers were sent to Biti's office “for the maintenance of law and order”.
In March, Lovemore Madhuku, a lawyer who filed a constitutional court challenge to the amendment bill, said he was beaten by a group of balaclava-wearing men who drove off in unmarked vehicles followed by two police vehicles. Local media published photos of Madhuku with large welts across his upper back. Zimbabwe's police force said: “The police were not involved in the alleged incident.”
Mangwana stated: “If any individual – whether Professor Madhuku, Mr Biti, or anyone else – possesses credible evidence of assault or harassment by state agents, my office urges them to formally lodge a complaint with the [police] or the relevant judicial authorities.”
Public Consultation Disputed
Mangwana said a consultation process received 537,000 submissions, with an “overwhelming majority supporting the constitutional changes”. However, Jameson Timba, a minister during Zimbabwe's government of national unity from 2009 to 2013, said he and his allies were prevented from speaking during public consultation events. Timba said: “We are just the tip of the iceberg. In almost every district that [the government] went to, people were being denied an opportunity to speak … Those public hearings are not a representation of anything. They are a fraud.”
Background of Zimbabwe's Political Crisis
Mnangagwa, now 83, won a second term with 52.6% of the vote in the 2023 presidential election amid criticism from international observers and opposition figures. Zimbabwe became internationally isolated during the 2000s after Mugabe's government confiscated more than 4,000 farms from mostly white farmers, leading to economic collapse and hyperinflation in 2008. In 2024, the US imposed sanctions on Mnangagwa, his wife Auxillia, and nine others, accusing them of corruption.
