Open Letter to His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa

Your Excellency,

We paid close attention to your opening statements to the ZANU PF Politburo on September 17, 2025, where you made at least two references to “Vision 2030,” touting the agenda as the means of achieving national progress.

Many Zimbabweans recognised a familiar strain in that rhetoric: the blending of language about aspirational development with a political project that could end up serving as a front for plans to stay in power past the constitutional limit.

Your loyalists and henchmen have cynically branded this ploy as “Agenda 2030,” smuggling it into public discourse to legitimise your unconstitutionally extended stay in power by invoking the developmental mantra “Vision 2030.”

Development vs. Partisan Entrenchment

We do not disagree with the notion of long-term development; you framed “Vision 2030” as a national imperative.

However, we strongly and categorically oppose any attempt to use the language of development as a cover for partisanship, patrimonialism, and personal entrenchment.

Many Zimbabweans have already interpreted the “2030” slogan, which is used in party hallways and public messaging, as a bid to prolong one man’s rule past 2028, which would necessitate constitutional amendments and further polarise the country, rather than simply as an economic blueprint.

The Curious Case for National Dialogue

We have called for national dialogue, not as a show of desperation but as a sincere attempt to restore confidence and pave the way for inclusive reform.

However, your inner circle has seen your refusal to accept a legitimate, citizen-led dialogue as a sign of strength, while those who are familiar with the long nights of constitutional manipulation under previous administrations have seen it as sheer arrogance.

Term Limits Are Non-Negotiable

One thing that you are misreading is that Zimbabweans are united on the nobility of term limits and will ferociously resist tampering with them.

Zimbabwe endured a lot of pain under Robert Mugabe; his presidency taught us that a president must serve for a limited term of office. 

Mugabe cunningly manipulated the constitution, changing from being a Prime Minister to becoming a wannabe life President.

You will face the same resistance former Zambian leader Frederick Chiluba faced when he attempted to extend his term of office.

In Zambia, citizens were relieved when their founding President Kenneth Kaunda handed over power to Chiluba, but they were not ready to accept Chiluba staying beyond his term limit.

You are the Zimbabwean Chiluba, although you assumed power differently, and you represent the second President post-Independence.

Pay attention to how elaborate term limits were crafted by Zimbabweans from across the political divide. 

That memory is important.

This should send a clear message to you that even your colleagues in ZANU PF will not support your term extension bid.

Regional Implications and Accountability

Cde President, your friends in the South African African National Congress (ANC) take pride in having brokered a deal in Zimbabwe that birthed a new constitution with clear term limits.

Do you think former President Thabo Mbeki will be happy to see you defiling the constitution?

Do you think the next generation of South African leaders would support a move that keeps Zimbabwe locked in perpetual crisis?

South Africa is already carrying the weight of the Zimbabwean crisis.

The People’s Struggle and Rights Violations

We are protected from the cynicism of perpetual rule by the constitutional framework that Zimbabweans fought for, which includes term limits, checks and balances, and a bill of rights.


Your Excellency, silence does not imply consent!

All Zimbabweans—including activists, teachers, war veterans, villagers, and unemployed youths—have been painfully reminded of what it means to have their rights violated for abstract ideals.

Although dignity is guaranteed by Section 51 of our Constitution, most youths are still denied formal employment and dignity.

Due to poor economic decisions, teachers who formerly received US$540 now only receive half of that amount.

Villagers have lost their land and means of subsistence due to murky extractive deals.

Communities are forced to observe as foreign Chinese investors and handpicked ZANU PF elites thrive on their misery, oppression, and suppression without compensation.

These are not abstractions; rather, they are the lived realities of millions of people and the most blatant criticism of a government that has lost its sense of morality and its obligation to uphold the social compact.

Elite Patronage vs. Public Service

You talk about empowerment and devolution, but in practice, devolution is just a catchphrase flaunted on paper while insiders continue to benefit from lucrative state tenders, land reallocations, and mining concessions.

Ordinary Zimbabweans see the same faces at the centre of patronage: powerful businesspeople dining while clinics run out of medications, infrastructure deteriorates, and kids go hungry on their way to school.

Legitimacy is undermined when elite enrichment, not public goods, is stewarded by the state.

That erosion is a result of decisions that can and should be undone; it is not unavoidable.

Misperceptions and the Need for Domestic Solutions

You have a dangerous misperception of Zimbabwean society if you insist on projecting invulnerability and claim to have “crushed” all forms of traditional opposition.

Intimidation does not end history.

This moment of reckoning will not be outsourced.

Zimbabwe’s problems must be solved domestically and with a strong sense of national pride.

However, domestically sourced solutions necessitate a trustworthy broker and adherence to the law.

Across political, civic, and social divides, we have suggested a national conversation headed by well-respected, self-reliant citizens.

That conversation needs to be more than just a dance; it needs to have the authority to suggest legally binding changes to public procurement, electoral laws, resource governance, and fundamental rights protections, such as safeguards against arbitrary evictions and environmental degradation.

Restoring trust in our institutions will require a serious, inclusive process.

Choices Facing Your Leadership

You have to make a decision, Your Excellency.

Your remaining time in office can be used to help a real transfer of power at the time required by the constitution.

To pursue a credible anti-corruption agenda that spares no one, to enforce protections against rapacious extraction of land, water, and livelihoods, and to put Zimbabwe on a path where success is defined by human development rather than headline GDP.

Alternatively, you could intensify your use of catchphrases and allies, which could cause the country to break apart and undermine institutions that are essential to our existence. 

We’re not naïve.

We have seen how institutions have been twisted through the use of partisan resources, state apparatus, and meticulously planned narratives.

But we are also emboldened by a growing unity among Zimbabweans who understand that term limits are not an insult to leadership; they are the safeguard of liberty and the guarantor of generational renewal.

Attempts to tamper with those limits will be met with determined, resolute, and, importantly, peaceful resistance by citizens who believe in the rule of law.

Renewed Call for Constitutional Accountability

Therefore, in the spirit of our constitutional order, and in honour of those who shed blood for our independence, we renew our call for:

a) an immediate, independently mediated national dialogue with a clear timetable and binding commitments;


b) tax justice, transparent audits of public tenders and mining concessions;

c) service delivery and meaningful protections for communities facing eviction and environmental harm;

d) restoration of teachers’ and civil servants’ living wages while the economy is reformed for sustained job creation; and

e) a public pledge to respect the expiry of your term in 2028, with concrete steps to secure a peaceful and constitutional handover.

We shall all be judged by history.

The legacy of a leader who listened, upheld constitutional order, and prioritised the dignity of the people over the exclusive interests of a select few is yours to choose.

Or you can take the route of self-preservation and constitutional manipulation, which by definition leads to disdain and crisis. You have a choice.

Uphold the Constitution and People’s Rights

We demonstrate our commitment to constitutional accountability and nonviolent civic engagement by publishing this letter.

We will adamantly defend the bill of rights and the President’s finite, time-limited term as stipulated by our highest law.

We affirm that we will protect the Constitution and the people’s rights from any attempt to undermine them, in the name of the Republic and in honour of those who fought for our freedom.

While there is still time to turn this chapter in our history around, Your Excellency should be remembered as a leader who brought dignity back to the office and restored faith in the state’s institutions.

Let that be the final and most significant thing you do for Zimbabwe.

By Obert Masaraure,

On behalf of Zimbabwe’s disenfranchised masses.