Zim Faces ‘Dire Constitutional Crisis’ Opposition Forum Warns

A local civic group has warned that the country is facing a “dire constitutional crisis” on the eve of its 46th Independence celebrations saying recent political and economic developments threaten democracy and the future of young people. Chiedza Mlingwa, deputy spokesperson for the Constitution Defenders Forum (CDF) said the country was experiencing shrinking civic space, worsening economic hardship and growing pressure on judicial independence. “It is disheartening that on the eve of the country’s 46th Independence Commemoration we are presently faced with a dire constitutional crisis that will really have severe implications not just for our democratic architecture but also threatens the collective futures of the children we are raising today,” she said.

Mlingwa accused the state of increasingly turning against its own citizens and cited the arrests of student activists Emmanuel Sitima and Takunda Mhuka. “We have seen disturbingly an increased clampdown on student activism with the arrest of Emmanuel Sitima and Takunda Mhuka as notable recent examples. They are far from being criminals or imminent to society.

They are young men who are products of their immediate environment, victims of circumstances they did not even create. Their activism is less an act of malice than a direct reflection of unmet basic needs,” she said. She also painted a bleak picture of the economy saying many Zimbabweans were struggling with the rising cost of living and high fuel prices.

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“The cost of basic living has reached unsustainable proportions and fuel prices in Zimbabwe remain significantly higher than the rest of the region,” she said. Mlingwa compared Zimbabwe’s fuel prices with neighbouring countries saying motorists in Zambia and Namibia were paying much less. “It is against this backdrop and this comparative context that the recent directive by the Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube is not only detached from reality but actually remains deeply insensitive.

For many citizens, mobility is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. It’s tied to survival, it’s tied to livelihoods, it’s tied to access to essential services,” she said. The CDF also alleged growing interference with freedom of assembly and expression.

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