The President, a self-proclaimed constitutionalist who knows very well that a constitutional amendment that prolongs a term of office does not benefit the incumbent, should instead persuade his persuaders to focus their energies on expediting the effort to enable Diaspora vote, a target which the President missed in 2023.
In 2018, during his maiden visit to the United Nations General Conference, President Mnangagwa told Zimbabweans living in the United States of America that it was his intention to have diaspora based Zimbabweans voting in the 2023 elections. Having missed his target for Diaspora Vote in 2023, President Mnangagwa must now strive to ensure he leaves behind a legacy of accountability and truthfulness when he leaves office in 2028.
The faction of Zanu PF that is persuading President Mnangagwa to overstay in power claims that the idea to have President Mnangagwa overstay in power was hatched at the Zanu PF Conference of 2024. The Conference was probably attended by about 10,000 people. We are confident that President Mnangagwa is smart enough to know that 10,000 people cannot make a decision that is binding to the over 16 million Zimbabweans living in the country, and an estimated four million Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora. The minority should not be allowed to ruin it for the majority. A National President presides over the whole country, not only his political party. If Zanu PF wants President Mnangagwa as Party President until 2030, that is their choice, but by constitution, he cannot stay beyond ten years when the constitution is amended during his term as Zimbabwe’s President.
President Mnangagwa knows too well that even if the Constitution was amended, he cannot constitutionally benefit, so we expect him to uphold that provision and tell the persuaders that their wish is impossible.
The next elections should be held any time between June and September 2028, more than three years away. A good President should be able to complete the targets he has been working on for eight years (2017 – 2025) by then. If the argument is about completing Vision 2030 as those who want President Mnangagwa to overstay in power claim, let them be reminded that the late President Mugabe was the first to embrace Vision 2030 for Zimbabwe, but he was forced to resign. If the late President Mugabe was not allowed to complete his term in order to complete vision 2030, why should President Mnangagwa have his term extended when he is only continuing the work that President Mugabe started? Whoever succeeds President Mnangagwa, whether from Zanu PF or any other political party will have the mandate to complete Vision 2030.
The Diaspora Zimbabweans play a pivotal role in the national economy. Every Parliamentarian who read the country’s 2025 National Budget presented in Parliament towards the end of 2024 will know that According to the Zimbabwe 2025 National Budget, diaspora remittances are projected to reach approximately US$2.51 billion in 2025, playing a key role in sustaining the country’s current account surplus and significantly contributing to the national economy. Finance Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, highlighted the crucial role of remittances in household livelihoods and economic stability.
President Mnangagwa has previously described Zimbabweans in the Diaspora as “equal to, and just as important and as deserving” as the Zimbabweans living in Zimbabwe. In his opening address at the first meeting of the 2025 Cabinet Year at State House on 17 February, President Mnangagwa said “all Zimbabweans, including those in the Diaspora, should be well catered for”. Catering for the Zimbabweans in the Diaspora should include offering them their democratic right to vote as the President explained to Zimbabweans living in the United States of America in 2018.
If President Mnangagwa is the listening President that he says he is, he should investigate some of the people in the party who are luring him to do what he has said is unconstitutional. It is unconstitutional for a sitting President to benefit from a term extension resulting from a constitutional amendment made when they are already in office.
The Diaspora Vote Initiative will make an effort to engage President Mnangagwa, parliamentarians from across the political divide to encourage them to make the right priorities. Diaspora Vote should take precedence over imposing an unwilling President onto the people of Zimbabwe.
For further details, please contact Padmore Kufa, Spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Diaspora Vote Initiative on +61 414 477 659 or email us on zimdiasporavoteaussienz@gmail.com.
Post published in: Featured