ZANU PF is at it again.
Whenever the ruling party runs out of solutions to Zimbabwe’s grinding crises — a collapsing economy, a broken health sector, underfunded schools, power cuts and deepening poverty — it reaches for its favourite trick: politics of distraction.
Today, that distraction comes in the form of a reckless and dangerous idea — that President Emmerson Mnangagwa should be in power for life.
Party affiliates and cheerleaders are already laying the groundwork, and the matter is expected to be pushed at Zanu PF’s annual conference in Mutare this October.
They want Mnangagwa to stay beyond 2028, despite his repeated promise to respect the Constitution and retire at the end of his second term.
Last year, the same self-serving voices floated the “2030 extension” proposal.
Now they have escalated their ambitions to outright life presidency.
This is not loyalty.
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It is dangerous sycophancy that betrays the very principles on which Zimbabwe was founded.
Zimbabwe has been there before.
The late Robert Mugabe, once celebrated across the continent, could not resist the allure of absolute power.
He engineered constitutional changes, manipulated elections and used State machinery to entrench himself in power.
For years, the nation was told there was no alternative, but Mugabe.
The result was catastrophic: economic collapse, international isolation, mass unemployment, a worthless currency and a healthcare system in ruins.
By the time the military pushed him out in November 2017, Zimbabwe was on its knees.
Millions had fled the country, companies had shut down and hope had all but evaporated.
The promise of independence — the promise of a democratic, prosperous Zimbabwe — had been hijacked by the ambitions of one man.
Mnangagwa, stepping into power, portrayed himself as a leader ready to break with the past.
He declared himself “a listening President”, even quoting the maxim “Vox populi, vox Dei” — the voice of the people is the voice of God.
He promised to restore the rule of law, respect the Constitution, open up political space and revive the economy.
Those promises revived genuine hope.
To now even entertain the thought of Mnangagwa becoming a life president is to betray every one of those commitments.
It is a replication of Mugabe’s mistakes, with even more devastating consequences.
Let us be fair. Mnangagwa’s government has overseen certain infrastructural projects: the modernisation of Beitbridge Border Post, expansion of Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, roadworks, and power plant rehabilitations.
These are visible achievements.
But beyond the tarmac and concrete, the fundamental failures of governance remain glaring.
The economy has not been fixed; inflation is still eroding salaries; unemployment remains suffocating; corruption is entrenched; and cronyism dominates tender processes and public appointments.
The youths — the supposed backbone of Zimbabwe’s future — have been sidelined, reduced to informal vending and hustling while a narrow political elite carves out wealth through connections.
The diaspora continues to carry the burden through remittances because opportunities back home are too few.
Ordinary citizens, instead of thriving, are surviving.
These failures disqualify any talk of life presidency.
Leadership is not a crown to be worn indefinitely.
It is a contract with the people, bound by a Constitution that must be respected.
Calls for Mnangagwa to stay in power for life are not only unconstitutional — they are destructive to democracy, the economy and social cohesion.
They undermine the Constitution.
Zimbabwe’s supreme law is clear: two terms, full-stop.
To bend it for one man is to turn it into a meaningless document.
If the Constitution can be broken today, it can be broken tomorrow, and Zimbabwe slides further into lawlessness.
It entrenches corruption.
A leader who knows he is in office for life has no incentive to fight corruption.
Life presidency breeds impunity.
We lived this under Mugabe, when corruption became the lifeblood of governance.
It suffocates generational renewal.
Zimbabwe is a young nation — with over 60% of its population under 35.
These youths deserve opportunities to lead, innovate and shape the country’s future.
Life presidency denies them that chance, cementing a culture where leadership belongs to a small clique forever if not wrested.
It risks regional instability.
Across Africa, life presidencies have been recipes for unrest — from Mobutu in Zaire, Omar Bongo in Gabon to Paul Biya in Cameroon.
When citizens are denied change through the ballot, they seek it through the streets. Zimbabwe cannot risk that instability.
The responsibility lies with Mnangagwa himself.
He must reject this reckless campaign, loudly and unequivocally.
If he allows it to fester, his legacy will be stained.
He will be remembered not as the leader who promised renewal, but as the man who betrayed his own words and dragged Zimbabwe back into the suffocating politics of personality cults.
No ribbon-cutting ceremony at a border post or airport will redeem that legacy.
Zimbabweans will judge him by whether he respects the Constitution — the same Constitution for which blood was shed, and which remains the cornerstone of our fragile democracy.
Citizens, civil society, churches, business leaders and the opposition must stand firm against this dangerous proposal.
Life presidency is not just a political gimmick — it is a threat to every Zimbabwean’s future.
It means more corruption, more poverty, more despair.
It means young people will continue to flee the country instead of building it.
It means Zimbabwe will sink deeper into authoritarianism, while other nations march forward.
The people must make their voices heard: loudly, clearly, and unrelentingly.
The Constitution is ours, not Zanu PF’s.
The future is ours, not the property of one man.
Zimbabwe has swallowed the poison pill of life presidency before, and the result was decades of collapse.
We cannot afford a repeat.
The country’s survival depends on the respect of term limits, accountability and leadership renewal.
To those peddling this reckless agenda: Zimbabwe is not your inheritance to manipulate.
To Mnangagwa: history is watching, and so are the people.
No to life presidency. Not now. Not ever.
