ZANU PF Harare Province Backs President Mnangagwa to Remain Party Leader Until 2037

By Southerton Business Times | Harare

ZANU PF Harare Province has resolved to push for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to remain the party's President and First Secretary until 2037, with provincial chairperson Godwills Masimirembwa saying the proposal will be tabled at the party's next annual conference in Bindura.

Speaking to journalists in Epworth during celebrations marking the enactment of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act, 2026, Masimirembwa said Harare Province wanted Mnangagwa to continue leading the ruling party beyond the completion of Vision 2030.

"While the amendment allows the President to remain in office until 2030 to complete Vision 2030, we still want him for an additional seven years, from 2030 to 2037. He must lead the party. That is what Harare is saying," Masimirembwa said.

Masimirembwa stressed that Harare Province's resolution relates specifically to ZANU PF's internal leadership, not the office of the President of Zimbabwe.

He said the province intends to present the proposal at the party's conference in Bindura and wants Mnangagwa to be retained as President and First Secretary at the 2030 ZANU PF Congress.

"For us as Harare Province, we look at a continuum. Beyond 2030, what happens? The President has done exceedingly well for this country," he said.

Masimirembwa praised Mnangagwa's development philosophy that "a country is built by its owners" and his foreign policy doctrine of being "a friend to all and an enemy to none." He also described the President as one of the country's most experienced liberation war leaders and credited him with strengthening Zimbabwe's international standing.

Among the achievements cited were Zimbabwe's election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, its chairmanship of SADC, and the country's assumption of the COMESA Chairmanship. Masimirembwa further referenced recent visits by regional leaders, including Uganda's Vice President and Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, as evidence of President Mnangagwa's growing influence on the African continent. He also commended Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi for steering the constitutional amendment through Parliament.

The remarks have reignited debate over Zimbabwe's constitutional future, with critics arguing that calls for Mnangagwa to remain ZANU PF leader beyond 2030 could eventually pave the way for another constitutional amendment. However, Masimirembwa's proposal concerns party leadership, which is governed by the ZANU PF Constitution, rather than the national Constitution. Under party rules, the President and First Secretary is elected by delegates at a ZANU PF Congress and can continue serving in that role irrespective of whether they hold public office.

Political analysts note, however, that in Zimbabwe's political system the ZANU PF leader has traditionally become the party's presidential candidate in national elections. Consequently, if the party wished to field President Mnangagwa as its presidential candidate after 2030, changes to the national Constitution would likely be required because the current Constitution limits a President to two elected terms.

No proposal to amend the Constitution to extend the presidential term beyond 2030 has been formally introduced by the Government or tabled before Parliament.

Emmerson Mnangagwa