By Correspondent
When Constitutional Amendment Number Bill (CAB3) was announced, Zanu PF mounted one of its biggest political mobilisations with party structures activated.
Legislators were whipped and supporters ferried to public hearings to project overwhelming public backing.
Yet only days after President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Bill into law, that political energy has evaporated almost overnight.
There were celebrations inside Parliament, understandably so, since MPs are among the amendments’ biggest beneficiaries, having secured two extra years in office without facing voters.
Outside Parliament, though, there has been little sign of jubilation.
That silence is revealing.
A Constitution Rewritten, a Country Unchanged
The quiet suggests that, despite all the energy spent passing CAB3, many Zimbabweans see little in it that speaks to their daily struggles.
The changes don’t lower the price of mealie meal, improve access to healthcare, create jobs, or ease the cost-of-living crisis.
For most households, life after CAB3 looks exactly like life before it.
What the legislation does do is reshape the country’s political architecture, largely in favour of those already holding power.
It extends the presidential term from five to seven years, allows judges to be appointed without public interviews, shifts voter registration from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to the Registrar-General, and abolishes the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.
Together, these changes significantly alter Zimbabwe’s governance framework, yet none of them touches the economic hardship ordinary citizens face daily.
The Government’s Case and Its Limits
Government has defended CAB3 by arguing that Zimbabwe’s electoral cycle is too frequent, fuelling political tension and disrupting development.
Fewer elections, the argument goes, would mean greater policy continuity and fewer distractions from long-term programmes.
That argument deserves a fair hearing.
Many democracies operate on different electoral cycles, and longer terms can, in some contexts, give governments more room to plan and deliver.
The real question is whether Zimbabweans themselves were ever asked to endorse such a fundamental shift.
Critics say they were not.
Opposition parties, constitutional lawyers, and civil society organisations argue that key provisions of CAB3, particularly those touching presidential tenure and how the President is elected alter entrenched constitutional provisions.
Thus, they argue, they should have gone to a national referendum under Section 328, rather than resting on a two-thirds parliamentary majority alone.
Government rejects that interpretation and maintains the amendments are constitutionally sound.
The courts may ultimately decide whose reading of the law prevails.
But for many Zimbabweans, the legal battle may matter far less than the reality they face every day.
For families grappling with inflation, unemployment, and failing public services, constitutional amendments can feel remote from the issues that actually shape daily life.
This may explain why CAB3’s signing was met with indifference rather than celebration.
Mobilisation Before, Silence After
The contrast between the intense mobilisation before the Bill’s passage and the quiet that followed is striking.
During the public hearings, buses ferried supporters to venues, organised crowds filled the halls, and visible displays of enthusiasm created the impression of broad public support.
Once the President’s signature was secured, that mobilisation vanished just as quickly.
That sequence raises an uncomfortable question: was the public hearing process meant to genuinely test opinion, or simply to demonstrate momentum behind an outcome Parliament’s majority had already decided?
A Widening Gap Between Rulers and the Ruled
There is a broader democratic concern here too.
CAB3 widens the distance between those who govern and those who are governed.
Parliament has extended its own lifespan.
The Executive has gained additional constitutional powers and independent institutions have been weakened or restructured along the way.
Whether each individual amendment can be legally justified is one debate.
Whether their cumulative effect strengthens public confidence in democratic institutions is another, and a more important one.
Fatigue, Not Endorsement
The muted public response should not be mistaken for approval.
It may instead reflect something deeper: political fatigue.
Zimbabweans have lived through repeated constitutional and political battles over the years, many of which ended with more power concentrated in the Executive and little tangible change in ordinary lives.
Many citizens appear to have concluded that whoever wins these constitutional contests, their own circumstances rarely do.
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