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QUESTION: What is the relationship between section 91(2)—the term limit provision—and section 95(2)—the term length provision in the Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013)? ANSWER: Section 91(2) is the term-limit provision. It regulates the President’s tenure by limiting the length of time that he or she may hold or occupy the...

12,643 views • 1 month ago •via X (Twitter)

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa's spokesman George Charamba, who is also the Deputy Chief Secretary, Presidential Communications in the Office of the President and Cabinet, has provoked a storm of controversy by claiming that parliament trumps a national referendum on constitutional amendment issues currently being debated through a legislative public consultation process. Mnangagwa and his party are using parliament to amend the constitution to extend his rule to 2030 and introduce a raft of other significant changes without going through a referendum, which civil society and opposition activists insist is a requirement in terms of the constitution. The 2013 constitution mandates that any extension of presidential term limits or removal of two five-year term limits must be approved by voters through a referendum. Critics say extending terms from five to seven years, or changing the electoral system constitutes a major subversion of this clause, requiring a referendum. However, Mnangagwa and his allies say a referendum is not needed as they are not removing term limits, but elongating the term lengths and changing the electoral cycle. Zanu PF says the amendment is not a change to the limit of two terms, but rather the length of each term (five to seven years), meaning a referendum is not constitutionally mandated. They say the amendments are meant to ensure political stability and remove "election mode toxicity," disrupting peace, governance and development. The debate centres over holding a referendum on the proposed amendments, specifically Constitution Amendment Bill No.3, which proposes extending Mnangagwa's tenure by two years andpresidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years as well as changing the presidential election system from direct voting through popular franchise to indirect selection via parliament. The ruling Zanu PF party controls parliament, leading to calls for a popular referendum to approve these significant changes, which critics argue violate the 2013 constitution's democratic intent. Charamba said: “Those who were old enough to participate and follow proceedings of 2013 will know that even after the referendum, that outcome of the referendum still had to be processed through Parliament. What that means is that, a referendum does not usurp the power of Parliament. It simply provides a popular basis for legislative action. Otherwise, at law, the body which is recognized as responsible for any changes, be they at the level of the primary law or at the level of subsidiary laws, is Parliament. Right? So, really, you can't place the referendum in apposition to Parliament. You can't. You just cannot because the referendum does not give you a result that writes the constitution. It is parliament which is mandated to do so in terms of our law. So, really, there shouldn't be any argument at all in respect of that matter. Right?.”

TheNewsHawks

16,579 views • 1 month ago

I have listened to the debate on Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 between legal scholar Dr Justice Mavedzenge and political scientist Prof Jonathan Moyo today on Twitter. Without any doubt, Dr Justice Mavedzenge explained, clarified, and made ordinary people understand the issues, and more importantly, in my humble view, he won the debate on whether there is need for Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 to be subjected to a referendum or not. Anything done for the people, as Prof Jonathan Moyo says these monumental amendments are, should be subjected to the people. The Constitution is not ambiguous on this. It is clear that term limits should be subjected to a referendum for any change to be done legally. Under Section 328 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, any amendment that seeks to extend the length of time a President may hold office, or to remove or alter term limits in a way that benefits an incumbent, cannot apply to the sitting President and must be subjected to constitutional safeguards. You cannot claim to be doing something for the people and yet deny those same people the right to have a say. Prof Jonathan Moyo has a right to his views, but those views must be subjected to the law for the amendments to be implemented legally, and based on what I have read in our Constitution, his views are not aligned with the law. And I am not making this up. It is in the Constitution. Even veteran Zimbabwean lawyer and former ZANUPF legal secretary, Patrick Chinamasa, has said so. In this video, he explains in front of President Mnangagwa that what they are attempting to do today, which Prof Jonathan Moyo argues does not require a referendum, would in fact require two referendums. One to remove or alter presidential term limits from five to seven years, and another to extend the sitting president’s tenure to 2030. This position was declared, and not contradicted, at a ZANUPF conference in Bulawayo. What the broader legal fraternity in Zimbabwe is saying, save for a few lawyers who have since revised their positions and now echo the same view, is that the Constitution is explicit on these prescripts. Anything else is political propaganda to win hearts and minds. The problem with propaganda is that it cannot be anchored in constitutional provisions. It rests on opinion. In this instance, however, we are not expressing opinions. We are stating what is contained in the Constitution and what ZANUPF itself has previously acknowledged. You can decide today that you want a 20-year presidential term. That is your right to hold that view, but you must subject that proposition to the law. If you believe in it, take it to the citizens in the manner prescribed by the Constitution. You cannot decide, through opinion or political argument, whether a referendum is required or not. That question is not settled by what anyone thinks. It is settled by what the law says. If the Constitution requires a referendum, then you must subject yourself to it. That is how constitutional democracy works. We know that the judiciary in Zimbabwe is captured. We know how they are going to rule, but the whole world knows the truth, that if they rule in favour of these amendments going ahead without a referendum, they are simply a captured judiciary without the respect that is required for anyone holding such an important office, and history will remember them as such.

Hopewell Chin’ono

62,182 views • 3 months ago

Professor Lovemore Madhuku in his Own Words Making the Case for Parliament to Indirectly Elect the President as an Electoral College: “We must not put in the Constitution of the country a provision that is dependant on what happens in a political party. That’s the point I’m making. We must never say in our Constitution of Zimbabwe that if a sitting President dies or resigns, we will wait to hear what the political party of that President is saying. No. That is not the best way of running a country. Political parties remain the preserve of those people who are in those political parties. But the country is run on the basis of either an election by the people—direct election—or you have Parliament as an institution sitting as an electoral college. Where parties have influence, they must do the influence within Parliament, but never to allow the political party to sit there to say I’m giving you this President, and so forth. That’s the point I’m making. And on that point, I’m making it right across the world; that’s what they do.” - Professor Madhuku, addressing a “Heal Zimbabwe Trust” public meeting in Harare on 22 February 2020. COMMENT: Professor Lovemore Madhuku’s 2020 remarks make a clear, powerful and enduring case for Clause 3 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe (Amendment No. 3) H.B.I. Bill, 2026. This clause replaces the direct election of the President with an indirect election by Parliament sitting jointly as an electoral college; both after every general election and, when necessary, to fill any vacancy in the office of President. The current direct election of the President was first introduced in anticipation of a legislated one-party-one-man rule through Constitution Amendment No. 7, Act 1987 in the old Lancaster Constitution repealed in 2013. Professor Madhuku put it plainly: The Constitution should not—as it currently does— depend on the internal decisions of a political party to select a successor to the President of the country. When a sitting President dies, resigns or is removed, the nation should not have to wait and hear what that President’s political party “is saying.” That is not a constitutionally proper way to run a country. Political parties exist for their own members. The country, however, belongs to all Zimbabweans. The proper solution is straightforward: Parliament—the institution chosen by the people—should act as the electoral college. Inside that open forum, parties may exercise their influence transparently and accountably. No party should ever stand outside the Constitution and simply “give” the nation its next leader. This principle is not abstract. Worldwide, presidential by-elections to fill mid-term vacancies are extremely rare. Most stable presidential systems instead use automatic succession by a deputy or, increasingly, allow the legislature to elect a successor who serves out the remainder of the term. These arrangements place national continuity and stability above partisan interests. Clause 3 of the Bill follows exactly this proven path. By giving Parliament the clear duty to elect the President—whether at the start of a new term or in an unforeseen vacancy—Zimbabwe will secure stronger democratic stability, and keep the highest office firmly within the people’s constitutional framework rather than the private control of any single party. In short, Clause 3 is a mature, practical and principled reform that directly honours Professor Madhuku’s wise 2020 counsel. As such, it deserves the full support of every well-meaning Zimbabwean who values good governance, democratic constitutionalism, institutional integrity and the long-term strength of the country’s democracy in the national interest!

Prof Jonathan Moyo

87,763 views • 1 month ago

The Singaporean has been arrested after he being defrauded? Why is the NDC Regional Chairman Ashie Moore still free? I know this turn of event follows For The Records exposé on this issue Let’s revisit what the law says from the Political Party Act 2000 (Act 574) PART III-FUNDING OF POLITICAL PARTIES Section 23: Contribution by Citizens. Only a citizen may contribute in cash or in kind to the funds of a political party. A firm, partnership, or enterprise owned by a citizen or a company registered under the laws of the Republic at least seventy-five percent of whose capital is owned by a citizen is for the purposes of this Act a citizen. Section 24: No Contribution by Non-Citizens. A non-citizen shall not directly or indirectly make a contribution or donation or loan whether in cash or in kind to the funds held by or for the benefit of a political party and no political party or person acting for or on behalf of a political party shall demand or accept a contribution donation or loan from a non-citizen. Section 25: Contraventions of this Part. Where any person contravenes section 23 or 24, in addition to any penalty that may be imposed under this Act, any amount whether in cash or in kind paid in contravention of the section shall be forfeited to the State and the amount shall be recovered from the political party as debt owed to the State. The political party or person in whose custody the amount is for the time being held shall pay it to the State. A non-citizen found guilty of contravention of section 24 shall be deemed to be a prohibited immigrant and liable to deportation under the Aliens Act, 1963 (Act 160). The provisions of sections 23 and 24 do not preclude a goverment of any country or a nongovernmental organization from providing assistance in cash or in kind to the Commission for use by the Commission for the collective benefit of registered political parties. The law is clear on this and we expect the NDC Chairman to refund the money sponsored by Toh You Kang into their campaign to the state. Total Abuse of Power! Scam Aban!

For The Records

58,823 views • 10 months ago

FORMER PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI ON TERM-LIMITS IN AFRICA: “The ANC constitution doesn't have term limits. Indeed, maybe I should go beyond that. You see we shouldn't transform issues that are really of kind of tactical, of a tactical nature, into strategic issues. The United Kingdom does not have a process of term limitations, in terms of government, it doesn't have. Neither that Sweden have, The Netherlands…many. Who says they are not democratic? You know the issue of term limits on the Continent here—again I'm coming back to our understanding, our objective reality—it arose because you had a long period of military coups and military governments and all of that. And in the process of the democratisation, the general feeling on the continent was that let's find a way of avoiding these people who perpetuate themselves in government forever. And therefore let's do time limits. It was as a reaction to what had been happening. Now the fact that the United Kingdom does not have term limits, does not make it any less democratic. Stan Rylander, I see here from Sweden. The Swedes don't have term limits. Doesn't make Sweden less democratic. If African countries decide not to have term limits, why would they be less democratic? So, I'm saying that this was the tactical response to a particular history. And now we want to turn this into a principle like it comes from the Bible or the Quran or something” Comment: It is dangerous to turn a tactical decision to introduce a directly elected Executive President in 1987—in anticipation of the failed agenda for a legislated one party one-man rule state—into a principle of “one man one vote” or universal adult suffrage like it came from the Bible or the Quran or something. Learn to distinguish between tactics and strategy or expediency and principle. Meanwhile, CAB3 does not amend any term limit provision!

Prof Jonathan Moyo

39,812 views • 2 months ago

When legal scholar Dr Justice Mavedzenge retorted, during his constitutional debate with political scientist Prof Jonathan Moyo, that Zimbabwe’s Justice Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, has never practised law, what is in the attached Herald article is what he was referring to. A Justice Minister devoid of the ability to understand the Constitution he is supposed to guard and uphold. Zimbabwe’s Justice Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, has gone ahistorical, insulting Zimbabweans, including the country’s freedom fighters, by claiming that the liberation war was not about one man, one vote, but merely about land restoration rights. Such a claim distorts the historical record and reduces a broad liberation struggle for political rights and majority rule to a single issue. He advances this intellectual propaganda drivel to defend taking away the direct vote to elect a president from citizens, as espoused in his Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3. It shows that he has never read liberation war literature, which consistently emphasised one man one vote as a central pillar of the liberation struggle. Zimbabweans did not go to war merely for land in isolation, they went to war for majority rule, for universal adult suffrage, for one man, one vote. That principle was entrenched in liberation literature, which articulated the clarion call for equal voting rights to justify the struggle that eventually ended minority. Land without political power would have been meaningless. The liberation struggle was about giving black Zimbabweans the authority to choose who governs them, and through that democratic power to determine land policy and every other national question. For the avoidance of doubt, I attach a video below of Robert Mugabe explicitly stating that the liberation struggle was about one man, one vote. This was in 1962. Ziyambia also argues, ridiculously, that you do not need a referendum to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s tenure of office. Ziyambi confirms Mavedzenge’s assertion that he has never practised law, because one cannot separate the length of an election cycle from Presidential term limits as if they exist in different constitutional universes. They are inseparable, and only a bush lawyer would argue otherwise. The moment you extend an election cycle from five to seven years, you are automatically extending the tenure of the sitting President. This is first-year law degree material, and any serious student of constitutional law would understand that altering the duration of a term inevitably affects the term limit framework itself. That is not a neutral administrative adjustment, it is a substantive alteration to how long executive power is held. Section 91(2) of Zimbabwe’s constitution does not operate in a vacuum. It defines how many terms a President may serve, but the Constitution also defines how long each term is. If you stretch the duration of a term, you are materially affecting the term limit framework. You are extending the time a President holds office beyond what voters originally authorised under the existing constitutional order when they cast their vote. This is precisely why Section 328 was crafted with safeguards. It was meant to prevent incumbents from manipulating constitutional provisions, directly or indirectly, to prolong their stay in power. Whether you change the number of terms or the length of each term, the democratic effect is identical, you extend Presidential tenure. How a Minister of Justice fails to grasp that is astonishing. To argue that extending an election cycle does not touch term limits is like arguing that increasing the length of a school year does not affect how long pupils stay in school. It is a distinction without a difference. The 2007 harmonisation argument, which Ziyambi uses in a feeble attempt to defend an illegal constitutional mutilation, is also wildly misplaced. The 2007 adjustment aligned electoral calendars within an already existing constitutional framework. It did not extend the tenure of an incumbent President beyond the mandate voters had already given. There is a qualitative constitutional difference between administrative alignment and tenure extension. It is plain common sense, even before one applies constitutional law analysis. The claim that Ziyambi makes that even extending term limits to three terms would not require a referendum is equally alarming and legally outrageous. Section 328 was specifically designed to stop incumbency advantage and self-serving amendments. Any change that affects how long a President can remain in office, whether by number of terms or by their duration, triggers constitutional safeguards, including a referendum, especially where it benefits a sitting office holder like in this instance. Ziyambi’s attempt to anchor this in the so-called Vision 2030 or Covid-19 disruptions is empty political rhetoric, not constitutional law. Development agendas do not override constitutional protections. If anything, constitutionalism exists precisely to restrain power during moments when governments claim necessity to do so. The whole world knows that this minister, and other deeply corrupt and politically opportunistic elements working with him attempting to push these amendments illegally, are relying on a captured judiciary to pronounce on these issues through the same ridiculous lenses they are using to wrongly interpret the Constitution. That may well happen, but it renders the entire exercise illegitimate and unlawful, and it will ultimately be reversed, if they are able to force it through and attempt to implement it. The whole world is watching, and this may well become someone’s Waterloo if they are not careful. Also, for the avoidance of doubt, I place below a video of former ZANUPF Legal Secretary Patrick Chinamasa explicitly stating that the proposed changes require two referendums. He said this in front of President Emmerson Mnangagwa at a ZANUPF Annual Conference, and there was no objection to what he said. He was speaking in his capacity as ZANUPF Legal Secretary. ZANUPF and its leadership continue to be a laughing stock as they try to navigate a factional fight by attempting to strip and mutilate the Constitution to resolve internal power struggles. Unfortunately, it is not only ZANUPF that is becoming a laughing stock. Our country itself is becoming one, as the rest of the continent and the world watch a Justice Minister and a group of leaders publicly contradict their own Constitution. This simply exposes the depth of incompetence. Even where the intention is manipulative and corrupt, dictators elsewhere attempt such manoeuvres with a degree of legal sophistication. But here, we are being led by a regime full of people who do not even understand the Constitution upon which their authority is supposed to rest. They do not grasp the implications of what they are attempting to do. What serious investor would commit capital to a country where the judiciary pronounces itself in ways that are contrary to the Constitution, the supreme law of the land? It is absolutely ridiculous. We have people who are supposed to be educated publicly ridiculing themselves by articulating positions that are plainly inconsistent with the Constitution, yet insisting that this is what the Constitution provides. It is astonishing to witness how money and power can erode individuals to the point where they are prepared to destroy anything associated with their professional standing, whether intellectually, as scholars, or as lawyers. It is deeply embarrassing to watch this kind of constitutional drama unfolding in 2026. Imagine the level of shamelessness required for the Justice Minister of a republic born out of a war of independence to come out and claim that the republic was born out of a fight that had nothing to do with one man, one vote, that it was merely about land. In other words, he is suggesting that Zimbabweans who do not have land are not yet independent? Is he also implying that those of us without land are not independent? What, then, was the struggle for if it was only about land, which many citizens still do not possess? It would mean that only those who received land are the ones enjoying independence. He does not seem to realise the Pandora’s box he is opening with such shameless and anti-intellectual statements as Justice Minister of a country whose independence came through a protracted liberation struggle in which blood was spilled and thousands of Zimbabweans were killed fighting for one man, one vote. That position was articulated repeatedly, and it exists on record and on video. Now, in an attempt to resolve a factional fight, ZANUPF appears willing to walk back the very historical foundations of the liberation struggle. I never imagined I would live to see the day when a ZANUPF minister would shame not only himself, his party, and his President, but also embarrass the broader Pan-African community by claiming that Zimbabwe’s independence struggle had nothing to do with one man, one vote. By that logic, if Ian Smith had simply given Africans access to land, the war would have ended there. That is the dangerous and ignominious implication of what this minister is now advancing.

Hopewell Chin’ono

54,195 views • 3 months ago