Zimbabwe: Full Transcript - Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Bill, 2026 Second Reading By Ziyambi Ziyambi

Mr. Speaker Sir. This is a defining moment in our constitutional evolution: a journey rooted in the liberation struggle fought and won by the heroic sons and daughters of the soil, shaped by the aspirations of our people, and given formal expression in the Constitution we adopted by and for ourselves as Zimbabweans in 2013.

Constitutions, by their very nature, are not monuments cast permanently in stone.

They are living instruments of good governance, designed to respond to changing realities, to emerging challenges, and to the ever-evolving needs and aspirations of society. The true strength of a constitutional democracy lies not in rigid permanence, but in its capacity for lawful, reasoned and progressive adaptation.

Mr. Speaker, this Bill is therefore not an abandonment of our constitutional order in any way, shape or form, but a continuation of it. It is the product of practical experience, of institutional reflection, and of the honest recognition that after more than a decade of implementation, certain provisions of the 2013 Constitution require refinement to enhance their functionality, their coherence, and their service to national progress.

I ask this Honourable House to weigh the Bill in that spirit. A Republic confident

before you, is not a leap into the unknown, but a measured step, informed by the realities of constitutional governance, by lessons drawn from our history and comparable jurisdictions, and by our shared determination that the supreme law of our land should remain an instrument for development rather than an obstacle to it.

Let me begin, Mr. Speaker, as candour requires, not with what the Bill does, but with what it does not do, because a great deal of what has been said about it, beyond the walls of this Chamber, bears little resemblance to the text that lies before Honourable Members.

Mr. Speaker Sir, there have been many claims about this Bill, circulated in the press and in the public square, especially on social media platforms, which are simply not true.

Before I commend a single clause to this Honourable House, I want to place those claims beside the text and answer them plainly. Let me state, clearly and without qualification, five things this Bill simply does not do.

First, it does not give the President a term extension or a third term.

Second, it does not take away the right to vote, which is enshrined in the time

Third, it does not at all concern itself with succession in any political party.

Fourth, it does not postpone the nation's elections to some distant or unknown year.

Fifth, it does not concentra