THE CASE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT (NO. 3) BILL
Transcript of Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi’s comments during the Second Reading of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Bill, 2026, in the National Assembly on June 3, 2026.
By Ziyambi Ziyambi
THIS is a defining moment in our constitutional evolution, a journey rooted in the liberation struggle fought and won by the heroic sons and daughters of this soil.
It has been shaped by the aspirations of our people and given formal expression in the Constitution we adopted by and for ourselves as Zimbabweans in 2013.
Constitutions, by their very nature, are not monuments cast permanently in stone.
They are living instruments of governance, designed to respond to changing realities, emerging challenges, and the ever-evolving needs and aspirations of society.
The true strength of a constitutional democracy lies not in rigid permanence but in its capacity for lawful, reasoned, and progressive adaptation.
This Bill is therefore not an abandonment of our constitutional order in any way, shape, or form, but a continuation of it.
It is the product of practical experience, institutional reflection, and the honest recognition that, after more than a decade of implementation, certain provisions of the 2013 Constitution require refinement to enhance their functionality, coherence, and service to national progress.
I ask this House to weigh the Bill in that spirit.
A republic confident enough to write its own founding law must also be mature enough to improve it.
What I bring before this House is not a leap into the unknown, but a measured step informed by the realities of constitutional governance, lessons drawn from our history and comparable jurisdictions, and our shared determination that the supreme law of our land should remain an instrument for development rather than an obstacle to it.
Let me begin not with what the Bill does, but with what it does not do, because a great deal of what has been said about it beyond the walls of this Chamber bears little resemblance to the text before Honourable Members.
There have been many claims about this Bill circulated in the press and public sphere, especially on social media platforms, that are simply not true.
Before I comment on a single clause, I want to place those claims alongside the text and answer them plainly.
Let me state clearly and without qualification five things this Bill simply does not do:
1. It does not give the President a term extension or a third term.
2. It does not take away the right to vote, which is enshrined in the time-honoured principle of universal suffrage.
3. It does not concern itself with succession in any political party.
4. It does not postpone the nation’s elections to some distant or unknown year.
5. It does not concentrate power or the running of elections in the hands of the President.
None of these claims is true of the Bill before this House.