Mnangagwa signs constitutional amendment extending presidential terms, delays election to 2030

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed a constitutional amendment that extends presidential terms from five years to seven, abolishes direct popular election of the head of state and, through transitional provisions, keeps him in office until 2030 instead of the previously expected 2028 exit.

Mnangagwa signed the amendment into law on July 7. Its most immediate effect is on his own tenure: under Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution, the president was limited to two five-year terms and chosen by popular vote, meaning Mnangagwa would have had to leave office in 2028. The new law applies the longer term to current officeholders, postponing the next scheduled presidential election to 2030 and extending his current term by two years.

The amendment was approved by Parliament in late June after clearing both chambers by wide margins. The National Assembly passed it on June 18 by 216-42. The Senate approved it over June 24 and 25 by 75-4, after which the National Assembly signed off on Senate changes on June 30 before sending the bill to Mnangagwa for assent.

Beyond lengthening terms, the amendment changes how future presidents will be chosen. Instead of a direct national vote, the president is now to be elected at a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate. A candidate must win a majority of the combined membership; if no one does, the top contenders face a runoff.

The changes mark a sharp break from the framework adopted in Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution, which made direct presidential elections and two five-year terms central features of the post-Mugabe political system. Mnangagwa came to power after the 2017 military intervention that removed longtime ruler Robert Mugabe, then won presidential elections in 2018 and 2023.

The push for the amendment followed an October 2025 resolution by the ruling ZANU-PF party backing an extension of Mnangagwa’s rule. The bill was first gazetted on Feb. 16, 2026, starting the required public consultation period for constitutional changes.

That consultation and the parliamentary process drew strong opposition from civil-society groups and government critics. Human Rights Watch said it documented attacks, arbitrary arrests, harassment and beatings targeting civil-society organizations, opposition politicians, student leaders and activists who opposed the amendment. Those allegations were echoed by other civil-society monitors, though the rights groups’ accounts have been part of the political dispute around the law.

Opponents also went to court. A legal challenge led by lawyer Lovemore Madhuku sought to stop the amendment process, but Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court dismissed the case on procedural grounds, leaving the broader constitutional arguments unresolved.

ZANU-PF has defended the changes as necessary “to ensure continuity, stability and the sustained transformation of the nation.” Reports on the final law also said it moves responsibility for voter registration from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the body that oversees elections, to the registrar-general, and adds 10 appointed senators, widening the amendment beyond presidential terms and the method of election.