Thembelihle Mhlanga
The Election Resource Centre Africa (ERC) has warned that Zimbabwe’s newly gazetted Constitution Amendment Bill No. 3, 2026, represents a “profound departure” from democratic standards, following the formal launch of a 90-day public consultation process by Parliament.
Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda gazetted the Bill, officially triggering consultations that will culminate in debate and voting by Members of Parliament and Senators. The proposed amendments include extending the term of President Emmerson Mnangagwa by two years and increasing the tenure of elected officials from five to seven years.
In a statement, the ERC said it had “cautiously taken note of the proposed Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Bill, 2026 which proposes significant changes to Zimbabwe’s electoral system and represents a profound departure from the standards set out in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.”
The organisation emphasised that constitutional reforms of this scale should be broadly consultative, stating that “the process of changing an electoral system should be inclusive, following wide-ranging stakeholder consultations, and should be subject to a referendum.” It added that the current proposals “have far reaching consequences on participatory democracy and are being implemented without national consensus or stakeholder consultations.”
The Bill proposes structural changes to the administration of elections, including transferring responsibility for voter registration and management of the voters’ roll from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to the Registrar-General, and creating a separate Delimitation Commission to oversee constituency boundaries. The ERC said this “poses a significant threat to ZEC’s independence,” adding that the proposals “do not assist, protect or further the independence of the Electoral Commission.”
The organisation also raised concerns about proposals to extend the terms of elected officials, noting that electoral cycles and term limits are central to democratic accountability. It further highlighted provisions proposing to repeal constitutional restrictions on traditional leaders participating in partisan politics, warning that such changes could affect their constitutional role within communities.
The ERC said constitutional amendments of this magnitude “fundamentally alter the relationship between the state and the citizen, and cannot be resolved by a simple parliamentary majority,” and called for broader national involvement, adding that the amendments should be “subjected to a national consensus and where necessary a national referendum.”
The gazetting of the Bill marks the beginning of a formal constitutional amendment process during which Parliament will conduct public consultations before proceeding to debate and vote on the proposed changes. The ERC said it would continue reviewing the Bill and assessing its overall impact on Zimbabwe’s electoral and democratic framework.
