Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa is determined to stay in power until 2030 or even beyond and only God can stop him.
President Mnangagwa has repeatedly said he is a constitutionalist, something that some people have read to mean that he will step down at the end of his current and second term to comply with the constitution.
The Insider, however, understands that Mnangagwa intends to stay on, not just because the party has asked him to, but also because he intends to despite his repeated denials.
Section 91 (2) of the Zimbabwe constitution says: “A person is disqualified for election as President or appointment as Vice-President if he or she has already held office as President for two terms, whether continuous or not, and for the purpose of this subsection three or more years’ service is deemed to be a full term.”
This section has to be amended to allow the President to serve a third or even fourth term. This is the easier part because section 328 (7) says amendment of section 91 cannot benefit a serving president or one who has already served two terms.
It says: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an amendment to a term-limit provision the effect of which is to extend the length of time that a person may hold or occupy any public office, does not apply in relation to any person who held or occupied that office, or an equivalent office, at any time before the amendment.”
In other words, amending section 91 will not allow Mnangagwa to stay on. To enable him to be elected for a third term, section 328(7) itself would have to be amended and a national referendum held within 90 days of the bill passing through the National Assembly and the Senate.
This is the route Mnangagwa is going to take and everything, including funds to hold a referendum, is already in place. And everything will be done according to the law.
The ruling ZANU-PF already has a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. It has only 33 out of 60 elected seats in the Senate but if the chiefs and two special seats reserved for disabled people are factored in, ZANU-PF would need only one or two votes from the Citizens Coalition for Change to attain a two-thirds majority in the 80-member Senate, something that it can easily achieve because of the fractured and compromised opposition.
But there is no guarantee that all ZANU-PF legislators will support the amendment because some feel Mnangagwa has served his term and should step down to allow his successor to take over.
Mnangagwa is 83 years old this year and will be 86 when he completes his current term, but this does not seem to be deterring him from standing again.
The economy, however, could be his worst enemy. With three more years before his current term ends, Mnangagwa will have to ensure that the country’s economy recovers and inflation is tamed, because right now his greatest enemy is lack of confidence in his administration.
Mnangagwa is, however, no easy pushover. He proved that he could stand his ground when he pressed former President Robert Mugabe to stay put after he had been beaten by Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008.
Tsvangirai was forced to join a government of national unity after he pulled out of the run-up elections because of the violence that accompanied the elections. He had beaten Mugabe in the first round but Mnangagwa and his allies forced a run-up claiming that Tsvangirai had not won the 50% plus one vote required for an outright victory.
ZANU-PF is divided over the issue, but right now it is still a war of words but this could escalate to physical violence if the division persists.
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