President of the Nationalists Alliance Party (NAP), Divine Mhambi-Hove, has condemned Zanu-PF’s renewed push to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term of office, describing the move as unconstitutional and undemocratic.
Speaking to journalists in Bulawayo on Thursday, Hove said the ruling party had no legal or moral authority to unilaterally decide on constitutional changes without consulting citizens and other political players.
His remarks follow Zanu-PF’s resolution at its 22nd Annual National People’s Conference to pursue an amendment that would allow Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030, two years beyond the current constitutional limit. The party directed the Ministry of Justice to fast-track the legal process by October 2026.
Party officials have argued that the extension would allow Mnangagwa to complete his “Vision 2030” development agenda, which aims to transform Zimbabwe into an upper-middle-income economy.
But Hove dismissed the justification as self-serving.
“Our position is that Zanu-PF cannot make such declarations on its own without giving a clear path of how they intend to do it,” he said. “It cannot be resolved at a conference by an individual party. This is a national matter that requires the voice of citizens.”
He warned that the proposal risks misleading the public about the legality of altering presidential term limits.
“Citizens must decide if it is in their best interest to amend the Constitution,” he said. “What Zanu-PF should be doing is to engage other political parties and explain the basis of their need to amend the Constitution, so that everyone can assess whether the reasoning is sensible and valuable.
“But so far, they want to extend the Constitution by two years because ‘the President is doing well.’ Yet the spirit of the Constitution, which they endorsed and accepted, does not allow term extensions based on performance.”
Hove argued that if performance-based extensions were intended, they would have been enshrined in the country’s supreme law.
“If they wanted presidential terms to be extended based on performance, they should have clarified that in the Constitution,” he said. “What they are doing now is confusing, and as a nation, we are shifting goalposts. We are not coming out clear about constitutionalism.”
He also criticised President Mnangagwa for remaining silent while senior party members championed the extension, suggesting his inaction signalled tacit approval.
“If Mnangagwa is as constitutional as he claims to be, he should come out clearly and castigate his ministers for making term extension utterances on his behalf,” Hove said. “By keeping quiet and not openly refusing another term or an extension, he does not convince the people that he is ready to relinquish power.”
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