Zimbabwe is on the brink of amending its constitution to extend presidential terms, a move that the government claims will bring stability but that opponents have labeled a “constitutional coup.”

Senate Approves Amendments, Moves Bill Closer to Law

The upper house of Zimbabwe’s parliament voted 75-4 on Wednesday to approve the constitutional amendments, which will allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030 by increasing presidential terms from five to seven years.

The bill. Which also replaces direct presidential elections with a system where the president is appointed by parliament, was passed by the lower house last week — the government said the president is expected to sign the bill into law next month.

Opposition Warns of Power Consolidation

Opposition figures have raised concerns that the amendments will further entrench the power of Mnangagwa, known as “the Crocodile,” and his ruling Zanu-PF party, which has governed Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.

Mnangagwa, who is now 83, won a second term in office with 52.6% of the vote in the 2023 presidential election, though international observers and opposition figures criticized the election process.

Critics of the constitutional changes warned that Zimbabwe could return to the repression seen under Robert Mugabe, who resigned in 2017 after 37 years in power, following a coup led by Mnangagwa.

Makomborero Haruzivishe, a spokesperson for the Constitutional Defenders Forum (CDF), said the amendments represent a “calculated constitutional coup.” He claimed the changes strip citizens of the fundamental right to directly elect their president, replacing popular sovereignty with parliamentary selection by a “captured legislature.”

Government Defends ‘Legitimate’ Process

Nick Mangwana, permanent secretary in Zimbabwe’s information ministry, dismissed the term “constitutional coup” as “factually incorrect” and “deeply disrespectful.” He emphasized that the primary objective of the amendments is to enhance political stability and ensure policy continuity.

Mangwana rejected the argument that the changes should require a referendum, noting that the attorney general had found no legal basis for requiring a public vote.

Opponents of the bill have reported harassment and suppression of their campaign efforts, while Tendai Biti, one of the CDF’s convenors, said security forces entered his office six times since October 2025. In response to a claim that Biti’s driver was assaulted in March, police said officers were sent to his office “for the maintenance of law and order.”

In another incident in March. Lawyer Lovemore Madhuku said he was beaten by a group of balaclava-wearing men who then drove off in unmarked vehicles followed by two police cars; Local media published photos showing large welts across Madhuku’s upper back.

Zimbabwe’s police force denied any involvement in the alleged assault, and Mangwana urged anyone with evidence of assault or harassment to formally lodge a complaint with the police or judicial authorities.

Mangwana cited a consultation process that received 537,000 submissions, with an “overwhelming majority supporting the constitutional changes.” However, Jameson Timba, a former minister, said he and his allies were prevented from speaking during public consultation events.

Timba said: “We are just the tip of the iceberg. In almost every district that [the government] went to, people were being denied an opportunity to speak … Those public hearings are not a representation of anything. They are a fraud.”

Zimbabwe’s international reputation suffered during the 2000s when Mugabe’s government confiscated over 4,000 farms from mostly white farmers; the resulting economic turmoil led to hyperinflation in 2008, after which Mugabe entered into a coalition government with the opposition.

Many Zimbabweans see Mnangagwa’s rule as a continuation of Mugabe’s, as In 2024, the US imposed sanctions on Mnangagwa, his wife, Auxillia, and nine others, accusing them of corruption.