Zimbabwe’s retired military generals call for civic action against Mnangagwa’s bid to extend his term of office: Full statement below
*ISSUED BY GENERALS AND FORMER SENIOR CIVIL SERVANTS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE*
2 June 2026
*RE: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL NUMBER 3 : OUR POSITION AND CALL TO ACTION*
*1. BACKGROUND*
In March 2026, we addressed the nation on the grave constitutional implications of Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3 (CAB3) and took a step further and on the 18th March 2026, we formally submitted our petition to Parliament during the so called CAB3 consultative process in response to a public call to do so by parliament itself which was widely publicised.
We state without equivocation that the said process was choreographed, imposed upon the people, and its outcomes do not in any manner reflect the genuine will of the people of Zimbabwe.
It has since come to light that the people were compelled to append their signatures to thousands of fraudulent letters of support for CAB3, while selective media coverage systematically excluded the overwhelming majority of opposing voices.
We reaffirmed then, as we do now, one of the founding principles of the liberation struggle is that that power vests in the people. We called upon Parliament to subject CAB3 to a NATIONAL REFERENDUM, as it is constituted by the representatives of the people themselves, to this day that call remains unanswered.
*2. ENGAGEMENTS WITH THE PRESIDENT*
Pursuant to our communication to parliament. Two formal meetings with His Excellency the President, of the Republic of Zimbabwe were held on 18th and 19th of May 2026 respectively. Regrettably the two meetings failed to produce any results.
When we placed before the President our caution regards the dangers of this constitutional amendment chief among them, the alienation of the citizenry from the constitutional order and eventual alienation of our membership in ZANU PF, his response was, in his own words, “whoever wins, wins.” That response speaks for itself. It lays bare the contempt with which the constitutional concerns of citizens and members of our party are regarded at the highest level of executive authority.
What became unambiguously clear from those engagements is that the welfare of the party and the wellbeing of the people are no longer the primary considerations driving this process.
It has therefore become clear that the President is both the principal architect and the principal beneficiary of CAB3. He exercises complete control over the current CAB3 legislative process, and it is our considered view that the financial benevolence of Mr Kudakwashe Tagwirei is materially sustaining that process, whom we have discerned to be labouring under the impression that he is the secondary beneficiary of the intended amendments on our constitution.
*3. A WARNING TO THE NATION*
We wish to put it on the record that: the President has not conducted himself as a constitutionalist. ZIMBABWEANS, SHOULD NOT BE DECEIVED. CAB3 is a personal and political project of a cabal. Its passage serves narrow individual interests, not the national interest.
*4. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT*
On 20th May 2026, applications challenging the constitutionality of CAB3 were placed before the Constitutional Court. The arguments advanced on the illegality of CAB3 are, in our assessment, compelling and ought to persuade any reasonable court. We await the judgement with much anxiety as the rest of the nation.
Further we are informed that applications with Members of Parliament as respondents have been filed by voters within their respective constituencies against the proposed amendments.
We affirm our unqualified respect for the independence of the Judiciary. We repose trust and confidence in the Judges and their professional commitment to their oath of office as the last institutional line of defence of our Constitutional order, we call upon them to discharge their duty without fear or favour.
*5. OUR POSITION ON THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT*
We take particular and deliberate interest in the litigation against individual Members of Parliament. It is our considered position that the Legislature has been, or is in the process of being, captured by the cabal made up of Zviganananda interests, and by the financial influence of Mr Kudakwashe Tagwirei. In addition, we have heard the Minister of Justice speaking to the whipping of ZANU PF Members of Parliament to vote for CAB 3. It is our unqualified position that instead it is the people who should be whipping the Members of Parliament. The people’s voice has been taken away from them.
We stand in full and unequivocal solidarity with every voter who has taken the constitutionally courageous step publicly or otherwise of challenging their Member of Parliament on the possibility of CAB 3. We salute these individuals made up of the majority of Zimbabweans.
Accordingly, we call upon all patriots to mobilise the electorate in active and sustained opposition to the Members of Parliament who seek to collude with Zvigananda to unlawfully extend their own terms of office, and those of the President, WITHOUT THE ABSOLUTE CONSENT OF THE VOTERS.
*6. CORRUPTION IN THE PASSAGE OF CAB 3*
We are in possession of credible information that provincial party chairmen were induced with motor vehicles and payments of USD100,000 each to support CAB3.
This corrupt deployment of public and private resources to mutilate the national constitution is a matter of the gravest concern.
We are further informed that on the occasion of a private social function the 40th birthday celebration of the Honourable Tatenda Mavetera Mr Kudakwashe Tagwirei convened a closed caucus with a select group of political surrogates, namely Ministers Ziyambi Ziyambi, Mthuli Ncube, Torerayi Moyo, and Martin Rushwaya, for the purpose of determining the allocation of a USD31 million budget set aside for the procurement of parliamentary votes in favour of CAB3. USD50,000 per Member of Parliament was approved at that meeting as individual payments.
These are not allegations we make lightly. We make them as men and women who have served this nation with honour, and who refuse to stand silently by while its constitutional foundations are sold to the highest bidder. IT WILL SIMPLY NOT HAPPEN.
*7. FINAL WARNING TO THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT*
We remain committed Zimbabweans, loyal to the values of the liberation struggle and to the people of this nation. We address elected Members of Parliament, members of the Senate and those in proportional representation in the August house directly and without ambiguity:
Complicity in CAB3 constitutes a blatant violation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The unlawful extension of Presidential and Parliamentary term limits without the consent of the people is not a matter of political expediency it is a constitutional transgression that will carry enduring and serious political consequences for each and every individual who participates in it.
The electorate is watching. History is watching. Every Zimbabwean will remember those who chose personal enrichment over constitutional duty. WE WARN DO NOT BETRAY THE PEOPLE
*8. CONCLUSION*
Our clarion call to all Zimbabweans regardless of political affiliation is to stand on the right side of history. The constitution is not the property of any individual, any party, or any benefactor.
It is the supreme expression of the will of the people of Zimbabwe, bought at great cost by those who sacrificed in the liberation struggle. We will not permit it to be traded away in a caucus room at a birthday party.
We shall continue to engage all legitimate constitutional, legal, and civic avenues available to us, and we shall account fully to the people of Zimbabwe for every step we take in this struggle.
*ISSUED BY*
*Air Marshal Henry Muchena (Retired)*
For and on behalf of
*Retired Generals and Former Senior Civil Servants of the Republic of Zimbabwe*
