In a fervent call to action, Zimbabwean parliamentarian and human rights advocate Takudzwa Ngadziore has denounced a proposed draft bill to extend presidential term limits from five to seven years, branding it a “constitutional coup” and urging widespread resistance from citizens across all walks of life.
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Zimbabwean lawmaker and human rights activist Takudzwa Ngadziore has condemned the proposed draft bill that would extend presidential term limits from five to seven years, and called for resistance to the proposed law.
Speaking with Ismail Akwei on Global South Conversations, the youngest lawmaker in the Parliament of Zimbabwe questioned: “Why those two years? What projects did you accomplish that demand this extension? And beyond that, we must remember that this is not someone new to power. He has been in the corridors of authority for decades. If there was transformative development to be done, when exactly was it supposed to happen?”
Ngadziore, who was elected into the National Assembly in 2023 under the youth quota representing Harare Province, also called on citizens to “rise up” against the shift “from a military coup to a constitutional coup.”
“This is not a call only for young people. It is a call for Zimbabweans: students, workers, informal traders, the elderly, even those within the ruling party who still believe in the ideals that gave birth to this country,” he said.
“A struggle without pain is a picnic. History has already taught us that freedom does not come on a silver platter. If we are afraid of hospitals, prisons or cemeteries when fighting oppression, then we are not liberators. We are simply accepting our chains,” he added.
He went further to frame the constitutional amendment itself as a form of repression. “A constitutional amendment that removes your right to choose your leader is a form of arrest,” he said. “When you cannot vote for the president you want, when Members of Parliament are determined by manipulation, when your democratic power as a citizen is taken away, that is abduction in a metaphoric sense. You may not be in handcuffs, but your rights are in handcuffs.”
Takudzwa Ngadziore shared a message with President Emmerson Mnangagwa: “Young people cannot afford a basic, dignified standard of living. Parents cannot provide for their children. And yet you stand there and say you are a constitutionalist while your party advances a resolution to extend your term. If you truly believed in constitutionalism, you would simply leave. Courage is required for leadership. Unfortunately, that is what is lacking.”
This article was originally published by Global South World and is republished here with permission. View the original article.
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