I am not changing Constitution to stay in power: E...

I am not changing Constitution to stay in power: ED tells Zimbos in China

Oscar J Jeke

Zim Now Reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has confirmed his position to leave office when his term expires in 2028.

“This question of having a third term does not arise, especially under my watch. No. I am in my second term and I already know the date I am stepping down. In 2028 I'm going home, and others will take over."

ED said he will abide by the Zimbabwe Constitution by not seeking a third term.

President Mnangagwa was speaking during a question and answer session in China, following his meeting with the diaspora community on Monday.

Answering to a question on his plans for the future, specifically the third term bid, President Mnangagwa reiterated that he was one of the people that wrote the constitution of the country and that respect for the supreme law will be his legacy and that of his party going forward.

The President has come under immense criticism over some of his party members’ push for his extended stay in office, with many labelling the move as a “Coup on the Constitution” while others urged him to emulate his Mozambican counterpart, Felipe Nyusi who has given in to the demands of the law.

This comes as a rising voice in Zanu-PF calling for ED to stay in power beyond 2030, a call that the president has repeatedly rejected- at least in public.

Recently Zanu-Pf stalwart Tshinga Dube warned against the voices calling for ED’s stay in power, saying that they are self-serving opportunists benefitting from loopholes in the current administration.

Other analysts have suggested that the members behind the third term bid are trying to push away competitors through implementing the G-40 style that sought to reduce competition by pretending to protect and safeguard the President from ambitious successors.