By Liam Takura Kanhenga
Opinion — Government, under the inauspicious stewardship of Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, is now meticulously moving to unprecedentedly overhaul Zimbabwe’s Constitution in ways that would dramatically compound and concentrate executive power.
These sweeping proposed changes, dubbed the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2026, adopted by Cabinet on Tuesday, seek to extend presidential terms to seven years.
They scrap direct presidential elections and give Parliament the power to elect the president by majority vote following general elections or whenever a vacancy arises.
The shift to a parliamentary selection of the president in Clause 2, and the extension of terms to seven years, signal an overt adoption of authoritarian developmentalism.
Fundamentally, this proposed amendment is an anti-democratic machination that will deprive us citizens of electing the president of their choice.
My fellow citizens, in every election we primarily elect MPs in our respective constituencies to represent us in law-making, not to strip us of the most fundamental democratic right to choose a president of our choice.
Since our independence on 18 April 1980, our Parliament has existed to amplify the people’s voice, not to replace it.
In retrospect, any constitutional change that weakens direct presidential elections must therefore be measured against one simple test, does it expand or shrink the people’s power?
If it deprives and robs the people of that power, in essence it betrays the very mandate MPs receive from the electorate.
Fellow countrymen, what is equally troubling is also the proposed amendment to Section 212 of the Constitution.
Section 212 of the Constitution currently mandates the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to uphold the Constitution.
A paramount safeguard designated to protect constitutional order against individual rulers’ self-serving political whims.
The semantics are clear, that by removing the duty to “uphold” and replacing it with language that merely places the military “under” the Constitution, this weakens this collective protection.
A people-centred democracy requires strong institutions that defend constitutionalism, not amendments driven by fear of accountability.
Our security sector should exist to serve the people and the Constitution, not political convenience and expedience.
In the same vein, the proposed changes to Section 281(2) of the Constitution, which presently bars traditional leaders from partisan politics and seeks to reverse this progressive legislation, will no doubt undermine community cohesion at grassroots level.
Traditional chiefs are meant to unite communities across political lines, not mobilise them for political parties.
Fellow Zimbabweans, allowing traditional leaders to openly push partisan interests will risk turning cultural authority into an electoral tool, particularly in rural areas.
Ironically, in recent years we have witnessed our traditional leaders across the country being used to pacify local communities where Chinese mining operations have devastated our environment and heritage with impunity.
My fellow citizens, a healthy democratic society protects voters from coercion; it does not legalise it.
As a democratic and social justice advocate, I strongly believe that if election outcomes are truly a reflection of the people’s will, then traditional leaders must remain neutral and trusted by all.
Another troubling concern of the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2026 proposal is the return of custody of the voters’ roll to the Registrar-General, reversing reforms introduced by the 2013 Constitution.
Zimbabweans remember the disputes, conflicts and mistrust that surrounded the voters’ roll in the past.
Reopening old wounds does not strengthen democracy; it erodes confidence in electoral outcomes.
Constitutional reform should move us forward, not back to systems that historically undermined public trust.
These constitutional changes, which are a vicious onslaught on our democracy, are being deployed as weapons against the will of the people to provide a lifeline for a regime that thrives on patronage and resource control.
My fellow countrymen, nothing can be further from the truth than that the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2026 is, no doubt, an ugly ultimate legislative instrument to consolidate the power of a parasitic bourgeoisie.
Such that no amount of political sugar-coating and flaunting of niceties will persuade forces of democracy and, I dare say, even the simple-minded, that the amendment is a reformist document, but rather the ultimate legislative instrument for the consolidation of a parasitic bourgeoisie.
Our hard-earned 2013 Constitution is no doubt on the brink of existential extinction at the hands of a narcissistic, self-entitled and parasitic regime.
My beloved fellow countrymen, if we allow and permit the ZANU PF elite to dismantle our Constitution, we would have formalised a system of “stayism” that mirrors the Kagame-Rwanda model.
“Stayism” is simply an elitist system designated to protect a narrow class of oligarchs and secure their grip on the state’s extractive machinery.
Our government elites, by emulating the former Rwandan seven-year cycle, seek a “stability” that ensures regime survival rather than people-centred national development.
The Bill’s blatant disregard for Section 328(7)—which forbids incumbents from benefiting from term extensions—reveals a calculated attempt to bypass constitutional safeguards for the benefit of the current ruling clique.
This amendment creates a vacuum for the rise of the “favoured oligarch.”
Amid rumours of tenderpreneur figures like Kudakwashe Tagwirei—synonymous with primitive accumulation—being positioned for succession, a seven-year mandate becomes a licence for unchecked plunder.
For this class, longevity ensures control over vital extractive sectors like lithium and gold, while Clause 14 facilitates judicial capture by removing public interviews, ensuring the bench protects bourgeois assets from scrutiny.
It is a plain exhibit of how our liberation is incomplete and limited to a project of skin colour.
ZANU PF’s recent “warming up” to global finance capital provides the international cover for this domestic crackdown.
The IMF’s February 2026 Staff-Monitored Program and recent “whitelisting” signal that as long as Zimbabwe remains a site for neoliberal extraction, the international community may overlook this democratic backsliding.
While the IMF celebrates a 6% growth rate, this is a “ruthless growth” felt only in elite profits.
The working class remains shackled, with civil servant salaries falling far below the Poverty Consumption Line, while the state enforces “stability” to benefit creditors and foreign capital.
Finally, the Bill is silent on devolution, opting instead for the urbanisation of power.
By centralising authority in Harare and creating a presidentially appointed Delimitation Commission, the elite ensures that the peasant majority (61%) remains at a peripheral distance from decision-making.
Ziyambi’s Constitutional Amendment Bill 2026 is a pure capitalist programme which inevitably centralises the state to serve the bourgeoisie, leaving the masses to suffer under a “stability” that is merely the silence of their own dispossession.
Liam Takura Kanhenga is a democracy, good governance, and social justice activist who writes in his own personal capacity.
