{"id":10463,"date":"2025-10-24T07:25:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=10463"},"modified":"2025-10-24T07:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:25:11","slug":"us-lawmaker-warns-as-zanu-pf-moves-to-amend-constitution-extend-president-mnangagwas-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=10463","title":{"rendered":"US Lawmaker Warns As ZANU-PF Moves to Amend Constitution, Extend President Mnangagwa&#8217;s Term"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br>Innocent Sibonginkosi Ncube | Zim GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>HARARE \u2013 The ruling ZANU-PF party has passed a resolution to initiate a constitutional amendment process that would allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030, a move that has drawn immediate criticism from the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The resolution, adopted during the party\u2019s annual conference in Mutare last weekend, directs the government to begin the &#8220;requisite legislative amendments&#8221; to extend the presidential term. The motion was met with cheers from hundreds of party delegates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the current constitution, President Mnangagwa, who was sworn in for his second and final term in 2023, is mandated to step down in 2028 after serving two five-year terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to the development, a senior US lawmaker, Gregory Meeks, issued a strong warning against the plan. Meeks, the ranking member of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated that Washington was closely monitoring the situation in Harare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPresident Mnangagwa swore to strengthen the pillars of Zimbabwe\u2019s democracy and accept term limits,\u201d Meeks said. \u201cExtending his term would erode that foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, constitutional experts within Zimbabwe have pointed out that altering a sitting president&#8217;s term of office is a complex process. Legal opinions suggest that such a fundamental change may require approval through two separate national referendums, in addition to passing through the ZANU-PF-dominated parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Mnangagwa, who has previously described himself as a \u201cconstitutionalist,\u201d has insisted he would not seek to overstay his mandate. Nonetheless, allies within the party have been publicly advocating for his extended tenure, arguing that he needs more time to consolidate his economic development plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The push for a term extension has also highlighted reported internal divisions within ZANU-PF, particularly between factions loyal to President Mnangagwa and those aligned with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow Zim GBC News on Social Media:<br>\u00b7 X (Twitter): @ZimGbc<br>\u00b7Instagram: @ZimGBCNews<br>\u00b7TikTok: @ZimGBCNews_01<br>\u00b7Facebook: Zim GBC News<br>\u00b7YouTube: Zim GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get real-time alerts on WhatsApp:<br>+263 773 820 323<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For in-depth coverage, visit our website: www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a92025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Innocent Sibonginkosi Ncube | Zim GBC News HARARE \u2013 The ruling ZANU-PF party has passed a resolution to initiate a constitutional amendment process that would allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10464,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10463\/revisions\/10464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}