Church Leaders Rejects Constitutional Amendments: “You Are Tearing Up the 2013 Constitution”

By Desmond Nleya
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has delivered a scathing rejection of the proposed Constitution Amendment Bill No. 3, warning that the sweeping changes are not mere adjustments — but a direct assault on the spirit, substance, and sovereignty of the 2013 Constitution.

In its analysis dated 14 February 2026, the ZCC argues that the proposed amendments amount to dismantling the hard-won, people-driven Constitution adopted in 2013. The church body says what is being presented as reform is, in reality, the systematic erosion of constitutional democracy.

“This Is Not Amendment — It Is Dismantling”

At the heart of the ZCC’s concerns is the proposed extension of the presidential term from five to seven years — effectively pushing the next election to 2030 and overriding constitutional safeguards that prohibit retrospective extension of sitting officeholders’ terms.

The Council warns that this move is a calculated attempt to bypass Section 328(7) protections and weaken democratic accountability. Regular elections, it argues, are the heartbeat of democracy. Extending terms reduces oversight, entrenches incumbency, and risks breeding corruption through prolonged, uninterrupted power.

To the ZCC, extending a sitting President’s tenure without fresh electoral consent is not constitutional reform — it is constitutional subversion.

### Stripping Citizens of the Right to Elect Their President

Even more alarming, according to the Council, is the proposal to repeal Section 92 and remove direct presidential elections.

If enacted, Zimbabweans would no longer vote directly for their Head of State. Instead, Members of Parliament would elect the President on their behalf.

The ZCC describes this as a fundamental betrayal of popular sovereignty.

“The direct election of the President is a core mechanism through which citizens exercise sovereignty,” the analysis states. Removing that right distances executive authority from the people and concentrates power within party and parliamentary structures.

In simple terms: Zimbabweans would lose their direct voice in choosing the most powerful office in the land.

Concentration of Power in the Executive

The Council warns that the amendments collectively consolidate executive dominance across all branches of government:

* Increasing presidential control over judicial appointments.
* Weakening safeguards around the appointment of the Prosecutor-General.
* Expanding the number of unelected senators appointed by the President.
* Allowing traditional chiefs to become openly partisan, strengthening political control in rural communities.
* Reassigning key electoral functions away from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to bodies more directly influenced by the Executive.

Taken together, the ZCC argues, these changes dismantle the delicate system of checks and balances enshrined in 2013.

The Senate, for example, could effectively be controlled by a ruling party with as little as 29% of the national vote — a scenario the Council says severely undermines democratic legitimacy.

### Weakening Independent Institutions

The proposed merging of the Gender Commission into the Human Rights Commission is described as regressive and dangerous.

The ZCC warns that dissolving a stand-alone Gender Commission risks reversing hard-won gains in women’s rights and equality. Gender justice, it argues, requires dedicated institutional focus — not absorption into an overstretched body with competing mandates.

Similarly, the complete repeal of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission removes a constitutional mechanism for addressing past political violence and fostering healing in a country with a painful history of conflict.

Without such a body, the Council says, Zimbabwe risks abandoning its commitment to truth, justice, and national reconciliation.

### Defence Forces: A Subtle but Dangerous Shift

Another controversial amendment seeks to change the mandate of the Defence Forces from “upholding the Constitution” to merely “acting in accordance with the Constitution.”

The ZCC warns that this subtle shift strips the military of its proactive duty to defend constitutional order, replacing it with a narrower compliance standard that may leave room for executive overreach.

### A Blow to Rule of Law and National Image

The Council concludes that the proposed amendments erode constitutional democracy, weaken judicial and electoral independence, marginalize citizens, and demonstrate disregard for constitutional safeguards.

“If passed,” the ZCC warns, “Zimbabwe will demonstrate that it is a country that cannot respect its own laws and can easily change its Constitution.”

For the church body, this is not a technical legal debate — it is a moral crisis.

The 2013 Constitution was negotiated, home-grown, and born out of national consensus after years of political turbulence. To now amend its core principles before full implementation, the ZCC argues, is equivalent to tearing it up altogether.

### The Bottom Line

The Zimbabwe Council of Churches is clear: Constitution Amendment Bill No. 3 does not strengthen democracy — it weakens it.

It does not deepen participation — it reduces it.

It does not protect institutions — it centralizes power.

And in doing so, the Council believes Zimbabwe risks undoing the democratic gains enshrined in its 2013 Constitution.

The message from the churches is unmistakable: This is not reform. This is reversal.