PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has allayed widespread fears he wants to extend his presidency beyond the constitutionally permissible two-term limit and stay in power beyond 2028.
In recent months, there have been growing sentiments that Mnangagwa, who ascended to power through a 2017 coup, wanted to amend the country's Constitution to remove the term limit. Alternatively, he would seek consent from Parliament to de-harmonise elections and defer presidential ones until 2030.
Contrary to public perception, the 81-year-old Zanu PF leader hinted he will retire in 2028 upon the expiry of his second and final five-year presidential term.
Addressing a crowd at Mutare Teachers College, Fruit Juice and Water Processing Plant commissioning, in Manicaland province Thursday, Mnangagwa said Zanu PF will elect a new leader at its next Congress due in 2027 in line with the ruling party's Constitution.
"Our Constitution (Zanu-PF) says after every five years we go to Congress. There, we choose a President who is supposed to lead for two terms of five years each. I have done my first five years and we went to Congress and I was re-elected to lead for another five years. So, this is my last five years, which will end soon, and then I go and rest. My days to rest are fast approaching...
"We will go to Congress and find another leader who will follow in my footsteps, the footsteps of Munhumutapa," said the octogenarian.
● President Emmerson Mnangagwa has again said he will step down after the end of his term pic.twitter.com/k4T1lu1NTO-- NewZimbabwe.com (@NewZimbabweCom) July 4, 2024
The ruling party last conducted a Congress in 2022.
If Zanu PF does follow through its Constitution to the letter and spirit, a new leader will be voted into power in 2027 a few months before Mnangagwa leaves office, marking a fresh paradigm of smooth handover of power in the revolutionary establishment.
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is so far the frontrunner to succeed Mnangagwa, who has not made public his preferred choice of successor.
