War vets seek to block Constitutional Amendment Bill (No. 3)

Prominent constitutional lawyer Lovemore Madhuku has filed an urgent application at Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court on behalf of six war veterans seeking to block the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill (No. 3).

The six applicants - Reuben Zulu, Godfrey Gurira, Shoorai Nyamangodo, Joseph Chinyangare, Digmore Knowledge Ndiya and Joseph Chinguwa - are asking the court to declare Cabinet's approval of the amendment null and void and to interdict President Emmerson Mnangagwa from assenting to the draft law.

In papers filed at the Constitutional Court in Harare, the applicants argue that the President failed to fulfil his constitutional obligations under sections 90(1), 90(2)(b) and 196(2) of the 2013 Constitution by presiding over and participating in Cabinet deliberations on a bill that would effectively extend his own tenure.

The draft order seeks a declaration that all Cabinet processes and the approval of Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 are null and void and of no force or effect. The applicants further request a ruling that any constitutional amendment, transitional arrangement or continuation-in-office mechanism designed to extend the tenure of a sitting President would be invalid in respect of that incumbent, relying on section 328(7) of the Constitution.

They are also seeking a "just and equitable" order interdicting Mnangagwa from signing, assenting to, promulgating or otherwise giving executive effect to the amendment bill, or any substantially similar measure, in a manner inconsistent with the Constitution, including sections 67 and 328.

The Attorney General of Zimbabwe is cited as the second respondent in the matter.

The application sets the stage for what could become a landmark constitutional battle over the limits of executive power and the legality of efforts to extend the President's term beyond 2028.