Zim GBC News | Harare Correspondent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zanu PF Treasurer General Patrick Chinamasa has thrown his weight behind proposed constitutional amendments that would extend presidential and parliamentary terms, arguing that Africa\u2019s development struggles are a direct result of frequent government changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking on the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill (2026), which seeks to extend term limits from five to seven years and alter the presidential election process, Chinamasa asserted that a lack of policy continuity has left the continent in a state of retarded development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He suggested that African nations should look to China\u2019s governance model as a blueprint for success, praising the one-party system for its ability to implement sustained policies over generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“As for the lengthening of term limits for Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Authority Election Cycles, I express myself to be fully behind and in support of this reform of our political system,” Chinamasa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I have long argued that the problem of Africa\u2019s continuing underdevelopment is the frequent changes of governments giving rise to a lack of continuity and the Stop-Start development path that inevitably leads to retarded development. For development to take place, a country needs sustained implementation of progressive policies over generations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Citing China\u2019s rapid transformation over the past fifty years, Chinamasa urged African countries to take notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The People\u2019s Republic of China is a good example which we should emulate. In less than half a century, China has successfully transformed itself from a largely agrarian underdeveloped country ranking as one of the poorest countries in the world to a leading economic, industrial and technological powerhouse.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to extending term limits, the proposed bill includes a controversial shift to have the President elected indirectly by Parliament rather than through universal suffrage. Chinamasa defended this move, claiming it would prevent governance gridlock and reduce national tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Another political reform introduced by Constitutional Amendment Number 3, and which I fully support, is the election of the President by Parliament and not by universal suffrage as is currently the case,” he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This reform is long overdue. The election of the President by universal suffrage, besides being an unnecessary drain on the country\u2019s resources and toxic, has the potential risk that a President elected by universal suffrage may find that his Party is in the minority in Parliament, creating problems of governance. A President unable to gain the support of Parliament will be a lame duck.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposed amendments are expected to spark intense debate among legislators and civic society in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FOLLOW US FOR REAL-TIME UPDATES:
\u00b7 X (Twitter): @ZimGbc
\u00b7 Instagram: @ZimGBCNews
\u00b7 TikTok: @ZimGBCNews_01
\u00b7 Facebook: Zim GBC News
\u00b7 YouTube: Zim GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get real-time alerts on WhatsApp:
+263 773 820 323<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For in-depth coverage, visit our website: www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a92026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zim GBC News | Harare Correspondent Zanu PF Treasurer General Patrick Chinamasa has thrown his weight behind proposed constitutional amendments that would extend presidential and parliamentary terms, arguing that Africa\u2019s… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12448","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=12448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12450,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12448\/revisions\/12450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}