Dr Abigale Mupambi
By Desire Tshuma
Harare — Opposition supporters have “lost the issue of following process and procedure” and are only now scrambling to understand Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3, while Zanu PF structures have stayed on top of the legislative agenda, says political analyst Dr Abigale Mupambi.
Speaking to this publication this week, Mupambi argued that much of the opposition’s reaction has played out in WhatsApp groups and protests rather than through parliamentary channels that shape law.
“They look like they are just waking up from a certain deep sleep and realizing there is a bill,” she said.
“They don’t even know where to start. They have never capacitated their people around policy and bills. They don’t even know how the laws can be made and amended.”
Mupambi contrasted that with what she called Zanu PF’s ground-level literacy on policy. “Zanu PF is always on the ground, its people always attend a number of bills,” she said. “If you listen to the last State of the Nation Address by the President in Parliament, he was actually recommending Parliament to expedite a number of bills that are pending. And the opposition constituents are not even aware of that. Zanu PF people they know about all these bills.”
What the opposition is saying:
Opposition leaders and civic groups say Amendment Bill No. 3 is being pushed without proper consultation and risks extending President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rule to 2030.
Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart accused Attorney-General Virginia Mabhiza of a “misleading interpretation” of Section 328, arguing subsections (7), (8) and (9) impose stricter safeguards on amendments affecting term limits that are being ignored.
Lawyer Fadzayi Mahere said Mabhiza “has no power to dismiss calls for a referendum” and only a court can decide whether the Bill must go to citizens for a vote. The MDC-T, National Constitutional Assembly, and Constitutional Defenders Forum dismissed public hearings as “ZANU-PF rallies where only trained supporters were allowed to speak,” vowing legal action and protests.
MDC-T president Douglas Mwonzora announced demonstrations to demand a national referendum, arguing “public hearings cannot substitute the will of the people.” A diaspora petition also rejects the Bill being imposed “without the essential democratic process of a referendum”.
Watchdog Veritas called the hearings “constitutionally inadequate,” noting each district got under three hours despite Section 328(4) requiring a 90-day window for public views.
What the Bill does, practically
1. Term extensions: The Bill alters how the President is elected and seeks to extend the presidential term and the life of Parliament. Critics say this would extend Mnangagwa’s rule to 2030.
2. Elections moved from ZEC: It strips the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission of voter registration, maintenance of voters rolls, and delimitation of boundaries, giving those powers to the Registrar-General. Supporters argue the Registrar-General already manages civil records. Critics warn the office is “subject to political control” while ZEC is “at least notionally independent.”
3. Senate changes: The Bill alters how Senators are appointed.
Zanu PF says the changes “refine governance structures in line with Vision 2030” for “administrative efficiency” and “policy continuity,” citing “overwhelming support” at hearings in Gwanda and Matobo.
Mupambi’s warning remains process-focused: “What is important is for people to understand the process, be part of the real process that matters. Activism alone cannot deliver the results.”
Her prediction: Amendment Bill No. 3 is likely to “sail through, not because the points being spoken by opposition constituents are not important, but they won’t be in the right channel, they won’t be channelled properly.”