BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Zimbabwean lawmakers on Thursday clashed over proposals to extend presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years and replace direct presidential elections with an Electoral College system, as debate on the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Bill continued in the National Assembly.
Supporters of the Bill argued that longer terms would provide governments with enough time to implement development programmes and reduce political uncertainty.
Mkoba North legislator Edgar Ncube said the current five-year cycle was too short to deliver meaningful transformation.
“You cannot plant a tree on Monday and harvest its shade by Friday,” Ncube told Parliament. “Five years is too short to conceive, implement and entrench transformative national development.”
Moses Mudzingwa supported the proposal, arguing that frequent elections kept the country in a perpetual campaign mode that discouraged long-term investment.
Opponents, however, said elected officials should not alter constitutional provisions in ways that could weaken public oversight.
Martin Mureri argued that authority rests with voters and cannot be extended without their consent.
“If a headman gives you four acres of land, you cannot wake up and make them eight acres,” Mureri said. “The employers are the people of Zimbabwe.”
One of the debate’s most memorable interventions came from Goodrich, who used a football analogy to oppose extending terms of office.
“If Scotland is playing Caps United and the match is set for 90 minutes, when the 90 minutes are over you do not ask for another 30 minutes because you are playing well,” Chimbaira said.
The Bill’s proposal to have the president elected by an Electoral College comprising members of Parliament and senators also drew sharp divisions.
Others defended the proposal, saying it could help reduce political tensions associated with disputed elections.
“We do not want our students to be exposed to election toxicity,” Ziyambi said, adding that indirect elections could contribute to national stability.
Supporters pointed to countries such as Botswana, India and Germany as examples of parliamentary democracies that elect leaders indirectly.
Opposition legislators rejected the argument, saying the proposal would erode democratic gains secured through the liberation struggle.
Lynette Karenyi-Kore said the principle of “one man, one vote” should remain central to Zimbabwe’s political system.
“The ideals of the liberation struggle were built around one man, one vote,” Karenyi-Kore said. “The people of Chikanga are not asking for constitutional engineering. They are asking for bread, jobs and affordable education.”
The role of traditional leaders in politics also emerged as a contentious issue.
Samson Matema argued that chiefs should be allowed to participate openly in political affairs.
“The liberation struggle was fought over land, and the owners of the land are the chiefs,” Matema said.
Omega Sibanda Jaravaza voiced support for the Bill in spiritual terms, saying he believed liberation icons Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi would approve of the proposed changes.
But Taurai Dexter Malinganiso warned that allowing chiefs to become active political actors could undermine the neutrality that gives traditional leaders legitimacy.
“When chiefs enter the political arena and join the mudslinging, they risk losing the moral authority that has sustained their institutions for generations,” Malinganiso said.
Despite divisions over most provisions of the Bill, lawmakers from different sides of the House found common ground on the future of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission.
Tsitsi Buka said the commission had become a critical institution for advancing women’s participation in public life and warned against proposals to merge it with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.
“It is a shield for women and a source of assistance,” Buka said.
Sibongile Ndlovu echoed those concerns, saying many women serving in Parliament had benefited from the commission’s support and mentorship programmes.
Debate adjourned shortly before 8 p.m. after Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi moved for proceedings to continue on Friday.