HARARE – The proposed Breaking Barriers Initiative (BBI), a constitutional reform plan reportedly linked to efforts to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term beyond 2028, has sparked strong criticism from legal experts, analysts, and sections of civil society, who describe it as an unconstitutional attempt to undermine Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution. Constitutional law expert Professor Lovemore Madhuku has dismissed Zanu-PF’s alleged bid to extend Mnangagwa’s term to 2030 as legally impossible, warning that any amendment seeking to alter the presidential term of office would require a national referendum. Speaking to 263Chat, Madhuku said, “We do not know how they intend to do it; they have not indicated how they would want to amend the Constitution, but what is very clear is that it is not possible to ensure that when the President’s term ends in 2028, he remains in office beyond that.
There is no legal mechanism for doing it as it currently stands.” He added that constitutional provisions were clear on term limits and that any attempt to alter them without consulting citizens would be unlawful. “If you want to tamper with the term of office of the President, the exercise of executive powers, or the structure of the State, you cannot avoid a referendum,” he said. The proposal to extend Mnangagwa’s term reportedly stems from a Zanu-PF resolution adopted at its 2024 Bulawayo congress.
Since then, the issue has fueled political divisions and revived memories of former President Robert Mugabe’s prolonged rule, which ended in a military-assisted transition in 2017 after 37 years in power. According to internal documents cited in commentaries by analysts and political observers, the Breaking Barriers Initiative proposes a set of constitutional amendments aimed at suspending elections for up to 10 years under what proponents describe as an “election sabbatical.” Critics, however, allege that the initiative seeks to create a legal pathway for Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030 by exploiting technical interpretations of constitutional clauses. Exiled former government minister Professor Jonathan Moyo, who has been linked to the drafting of the BBI, argued that the proposal can be implemented through parliamentary approval without a referendum. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Moyo said, “Amending Section 95(2)(b) to seven years, for instance, would simply recalibrate this flexible duration, enabling the extension to 2030 via a two-thirds vote in each House in Parliament—free from the dictates of Sections 328(6)–(9).” The Undertaker’s hymn: Has ZANU-PF written its own obituary…Oct 24, 20256,071
Read Full Article on Nehanda Radio
