HARARE — Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi is set to table a Memorandum to Cabinet on the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2026, unveiling what critics describe as the most far-reaching overhaul of Zimbabwe’s constitutional order since the adoption of the 2013 Constitution.
The proposed amendments touch the core pillars of democratic governance, electoral accountability and the separation of powers, prompting strong opposition warnings that the changes are designed to consolidate executive authority while diluting citizen oversight.
At the centre of the proposals is a plan to end the direct election of the President, transferring that power to Parliament. Under the new system, Members of Parliament would elect the President, effectively removing the electorate from the most consequential political choice in the country.
Opposition parties say the move overturns the principle of universal suffrage that underpinned the liberation struggle and was reaffirmed in the 2013 Constitution.
“This reduces millions of Zimbabweans to spectators in their own democracy,” an opposition leader said.
Equally contentious is a proposal to extend presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years, a change critics argue weakens accountability by lengthening the period between elections and entrenching incumbency.
The amendments also seek to open partisan political space to traditional leaders, removing constitutional barriers that currently prevent chiefs from actively supporting political parties. Opponents warn this would politicise traditional authority structures and undermine free political choice, particularly in rural communities.
In a further expansion of presidential power, the Bill would allow the Head of State to appoint an additional 10 senators, increasing the size of the upper chamber and strengthening executive influence over Parliament.
Another major shift concerns the security sector. The proposed changes would remove the Zimbabwe Defence Forces’ explicit constitutional duty to “uphold this Constitution”, replacing it with language that places the military merely “in accordance with the Constitution”. Critics say this weakens an important constitutional safeguard and blurs the military’s accountability to the supreme law.
Taken together, opposition parties say the amendments amount to a sweeping reconfiguration of Zimbabwe’s constitutional architecture, reversing hard-won democratic protections and centralising power in the Executive.
The Justice Minister, however, maintains that the reforms are part of Zimbabwe’s “continuing legal evolution”, aimed at improving stability, efficiency and governance, and aligning the country’s constitutional framework with what he describes as contemporary African constitutional practice.
As Cabinet considers the proposals, political tensions are expected to intensify, with opposition parties and civil society groups preparing to challenge what they see as an unprecedented rollback of democratic rights under the guise of constitutional reform.
