Self-exiled former Cabinet minister Saviour Kasukuwere has issued an ominous warning to President Emmerson Mnangagwa against rubbishing serving and retired military generals' push to subject Constitutional Amendment Number 3 to a referendum.
The cautionary statement by Kasukuwere follows a written representation made to Parliament by retired Air Marshall Henry Muchena, who was purportedly speaking on behalf of other top-ranking ex-military men and women. Muchena outlined that Constitutional Amendment Number 3, which seeks to extend the term of office of the President from the current five to seven years, among other governance changes, needed to have the consent of the governed.
Posting on social media at the weekend, Kasukuwere, who is suspected to be holed up in South Africa, urged 83-year-old Mnangagwa to listen to Muchena and like-minded ex-combatants of the 1970s war of liberation or face the consequences.
"My considered advice to Cde ED Mnangagwa: Please don't let dangerous characters destroy you. Find the Generals and real Ex-Combatants and have a discussion with them. I have travelled this road before, but with all due respect, don't dismiss Air Marshall Muchena and allow them to be insulted. The ball is in your court Mukuwasha," wrote Kasukuwere.
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But another former Cabinet minister and perennial flip-flopper, Professor Jonathan, believed to be in exile in Kenya and now covertly working to prop-up his erstwhile nemesis, Mnangagwa, described Muchena and his acolytes as "liars" bent on pushing a biased narrative that removing direct elections for the president was tantamount to negating the founding principles of "one man one voted", which was one of reasons the 1970s armed struggle against imperialists was waged.
"Muchena's use of lies to purport to defend the constitution is neither revolutionary nor constitutional: Air Marshal (Retired) Henry Muchena--and the unnamed co-authors, alleged retired generals and senior civil servants said to be ex-combatants who cowardly remain incognito behind his 15 March 2026 letter--are correct that the liberation struggle rested on two fundamental, non-negotiable pillars: land and universal adult suffrage ("one man, one vote"). These principles remain sacred.
"They are, however, blatantly lying in claiming that 'universal adult suffrage' or 'one man one vote' ever meant the direct election of the head of state or government, during the liberation struggle or since independence in 1980. Nowhere under the sun has universal adult suffrage equated to direct election of the executive," wrote Moyo.
"Muchena's claim--and that of his incognito retinue--is neither revolutionary nor constitutional; it is embarrassingly ignorant, illiterate, uninformed and dangerously misinforming. It is irresponsible and dangerous to elevate illiteracy to the level of political noise for purposes of conflict-mongering.
"Universal adult suffrage simply means the right of every adult citizen to vote without discrimination based on race, sex, property or similar qualifications. It concerns who is entitled to cast votes, not the voting system used to cast them. This right applies equally to direct and indirect voting systems alike.
"The heroic armed struggle under PF-Zapu and Zanu-PF delivered universal adult suffrage in 1980. But this triumph did not confer direct 'one man one vote' elections for President Canaan Banana or Prime Minister Robert Mugabe in the 1980 and 1985 polls.
"Rather, the triumph restored the right to vote for every adult Zimbabwean under the voting system that prevailed. Both Banana and Mugabe were creatures of indirect election in 1980 and 1985: Banana chosen by Parliament sitting jointly as an electoral college; Mugabe appointed by the President as the leader commanding a majority in the House of Assembly. Muchena's lie betrays both the liberation legacy and constitutional truth."
Moyo further argued that the United Kingdom has upheld full universal adult suffrage since 1928--extending the vote to all women--yet its citizens have never directly elected their Prime Minister.
"Voters choose Members of Parliament; the leader of the party commanding a majority in the House of Commons becomes Prime Minister through parliamentary confidence."
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The controversial former minister also cited India, the world's largest democracy, which constitutionally entrenched universal adult suffrage in 1950 (Article 326 of the Constitution) for direct elections to the Lok Sabha (Parliament), yet the Prime Minister is indirectly elected by the parliamentary majority.
The United States, Moyo elaborated, also doesn't allow direct election of the President by the general populace.
"Even the United States, the world's oldest democracy, having perfected near-universal suffrage through the 15th, 19th, 24th and 26th Amendments, deliberately rejects a nationwide 'one person, one vote' for its President, electing the executive instead through 538 members of the Electoral College."
Moyo opined that 'one man, one vote' secures the right to participate but it does not dictate the mechanism for voting to choose the executive.
"To claim otherwise is not merely historically false; it is intellectually bankrupt," Moyo.said.
