MDC President Douglas Mwonzora has weighed in on the talks within ZANU PF to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s stay in power.
Mwonzora said this at the Litigation Symposium organised by the Election Resource Centre in Harare. The symposium, themed “Elections on Trial: Understanding Electoral Jurisprudence in the 2023 Harmonised Election for Improved Participation”, addressed key issues and developments in election litigation in Zimbabwe.
The event gathered political actors, Constitutional and legal experts, lawyers and various electoral and legal stakeholders.
Over the past few months, there has been chatter about amending the Constitution to rid it of the presidential term limit. Some alleged that this was why there was a purge of CCC legislators from Parliament to give ZANU PF a two-thirds majority so it could massage the Constitution.
At ZANU PF events, the “2030 VaMnangagwa Vanenge Vachipo” slogan has been prominent.
At the ERC Africa symposium, Douglas Mwonzora hinted that there are plans to amend the Constitution and extend the presidential term limit from five to seven years. He countered,
“We have a response to that. We have Section 328 that we crafted. It says you cannot extend a term limit, but should you want to extend it, you go to Referendum. Should you achieve a yes at the Referendum, and there is an extension of term, that extension shall not benefit an incumbent. So that is one of the smart things we achieved.”
Read More: Mwonzora Castigates Mnangagwa’s Third Term Calls
Mwonzora also spoke about his 2023 Constitutional Court challenge of the delimitation report, which was used in last year’s elections. Mwonzora said they unearthed glaring anomalies which were unconstitutional in the Delimitation report. He said out of 210 constituencies in Zimbabwe, 199 were wrongly delimited.
Mwonzora noted that the faulty elimination report will be used again for th 2028 elections, and he exhorted people to join him in fighting it.
National Constitutional Assembly leader and law expert Professor Lovemore Madhuku was also a guest at the ERC symposium. He noted that power is very sweet and will always be abused.
Prof Madhuku said the Constitution is one mechanism that limits the abuse of power.
He also commented on the appointment of the new High Court judges and said the appointee does not understand the essence of a public interview. Prof Madhuku added that some of the people who failed interview questions were appointed to the High Court.
“A good constitution can go to the dogs if a judiciary does not give it the due respect it deserves,” Professor Madhuku said.
