Opinion / Columnist
There is more than one way to skin a cat
2 hrs ago |
121 Views
In this constitution, terms of office are five years and coterminous with the life of Parliament.
The Bill elongates the electoral cycle from five to seven years.
That's all it's doing, to elongate the election cycle from five to seven years for everyone, from councillors to the President. It's not specific to a person. It's the office of the President.
In essence, we elected to uphold the Presidential term limit in its entirety, refraining from any alteration to Section 91(2) or any facet of Section 328, particularly Subsection (7).
This principled stance underscores our dedication to enduring democratic norms. Those are election cycles and not term limits.
A full term limit is defined as three or more years.
The Presidential term limit is still there. We have just elongated the election cycle from five to seven years. It is not specific to a person but to the office of the President.
The above quote is extracted from The Herald Newspaper of 20 February, 2026 and is from the horse's mouth of Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Ziyambi Ziyambi, highlighting the gist or substance of the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3 gazetted on Tuesday 17 February, 2026.
We have heard it all from the horse's mouth.
The clarification of the legal position by Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi is crystal clear. There is no need for a Referendum.
There will be no Referendum. Full stop.
There is therefore absolutely nothing further to add save to say that there's always more than one way to skin a cat.
In framing Constitutional Amendment Number 3 Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and the Attorney General Virginia Mabiza with her battery of seasoned lawyers have creatively chosen a legal solution/route that is the least costly and the more expeditious way to skin the cat.
To quote Deng Xiaoping Chinese Statesman, Revolutionary and Political theorist who served as Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China (1978- 1989):
"It does not matter whether a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice".
It is now incumbent upon the entirety of the population to rally behind Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3 in the interests of peace, unity, stability, continuity, progress, economic and technological development of our motherland, Zimbabwe.
As for the President and First Secretary of ZANU PF, His Excellency, Cde Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, I say to him, Your Excellency's views on the ZANU PF Resolution Number 1 do not matter anymore. Vox Populi Vox Dei. The Voice of the People is the Voice of God.
The people spoke and are still speaking and demanding Your Excellency to comply and serve the Nation up to 2030. I know it is not in Your Excellency's nature to take a path that goes against the Will of the People.
As for the lengthening of term limits for Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Authority Election Cycles I express myself to be fully behind and in support of this reform of our political system. I have long argued that the problem of Africa's continuing underdevelopment is the frequent changes of governments giving rise to lack of continuity and the Stop-Start development path that inevitably leads to retarded development.
For development to take place a country needs sustained implementation of progressive policies over generations. The People's Republic of China is a good example which we should emulate. In less than half a century China has successfully transformed itself from a largely agrarian underdeveloped country ranking as one of the poorest countries in the world to a leading economic, industrial and technological powerhouse.
Another political reform introduced by Constitutional Amendment Number 3 and which I fully support is the election of the President by Parliament and not by universal suffrage as is currently the case. This reform is long overdue.
The Bill elongates the electoral cycle from five to seven years.
That's all it's doing, to elongate the election cycle from five to seven years for everyone, from councillors to the President. It's not specific to a person. It's the office of the President.
In essence, we elected to uphold the Presidential term limit in its entirety, refraining from any alteration to Section 91(2) or any facet of Section 328, particularly Subsection (7).
This principled stance underscores our dedication to enduring democratic norms. Those are election cycles and not term limits.
A full term limit is defined as three or more years.
The Presidential term limit is still there. We have just elongated the election cycle from five to seven years. It is not specific to a person but to the office of the President.
The above quote is extracted from The Herald Newspaper of 20 February, 2026 and is from the horse's mouth of Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Ziyambi Ziyambi, highlighting the gist or substance of the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3 gazetted on Tuesday 17 February, 2026.
We have heard it all from the horse's mouth.
The clarification of the legal position by Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi is crystal clear. There is no need for a Referendum.
There is therefore absolutely nothing further to add save to say that there's always more than one way to skin a cat.
In framing Constitutional Amendment Number 3 Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and the Attorney General Virginia Mabiza with her battery of seasoned lawyers have creatively chosen a legal solution/route that is the least costly and the more expeditious way to skin the cat.
To quote Deng Xiaoping Chinese Statesman, Revolutionary and Political theorist who served as Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China (1978- 1989):
"It does not matter whether a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice".
It is now incumbent upon the entirety of the population to rally behind Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3 in the interests of peace, unity, stability, continuity, progress, economic and technological development of our motherland, Zimbabwe.
As for the President and First Secretary of ZANU PF, His Excellency, Cde Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, I say to him, Your Excellency's views on the ZANU PF Resolution Number 1 do not matter anymore. Vox Populi Vox Dei. The Voice of the People is the Voice of God.
The people spoke and are still speaking and demanding Your Excellency to comply and serve the Nation up to 2030. I know it is not in Your Excellency's nature to take a path that goes against the Will of the People.
As for the lengthening of term limits for Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Authority Election Cycles I express myself to be fully behind and in support of this reform of our political system. I have long argued that the problem of Africa's continuing underdevelopment is the frequent changes of governments giving rise to lack of continuity and the Stop-Start development path that inevitably leads to retarded development.
For development to take place a country needs sustained implementation of progressive policies over generations. The People's Republic of China is a good example which we should emulate. In less than half a century China has successfully transformed itself from a largely agrarian underdeveloped country ranking as one of the poorest countries in the world to a leading economic, industrial and technological powerhouse.
Another political reform introduced by Constitutional Amendment Number 3 and which I fully support is the election of the President by Parliament and not by universal suffrage as is currently the case. This reform is long overdue.
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