By Takura Zhangazha*
The Second Reading of Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3 happened on Wednesday, 03 June 2026, in the Parliament of Zimbabwe. I watched it fairly closely on an online live feed.
It was a reading led by the current Minister of Justice Ziyambi Ziyambi.
He read the justifications of the bill with relative gusto and against a backdrop of fairly loud support from ruling Zanu-PF members of the House of Assembly.
He also used odd metaphors of airport runways and aeroplanes.
This was about how you can change the length of airport runways (the duration of the president’s term of office) but can’t change the pilot of the aeroplane that arrives at the runway (by inference, incumbent ED Mnangagwa).
Or something like that.
It was hard to follow how that metaphor was helping clarify, at least to a watching Zimbawean public, what it was intended to mean.
To be honest, it came across as pretentious and performative.
Particularly, where and when he then mentions issues around electoral toxicity and our (still current) electoral cycle of a five-year harmonised term for the executive, legislature, and local government.
Even more so when he tried to justify the changes to the judicial appointment system.
Or that of the emergence of a triple election management system that now brings back the Registrar General, a new Zimbabwe Election Delimitation Commission (ZETDC) and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
While extensively citing long-standing opposition figures like Tendai Biti and Charlton Hwende, among others, as having proposed the proposals.
As he covered many other aspects of CAB3, such as the issue of the changing of the phrase around our national defence forces to ‘uphold’ versus ‘protect’ the constitution, he was slightly more cautious in his wording.
For completely understandable reasons.
Though he did not directly mention it, he probably had the 2017 events at the back of his or his speechwriter’s mind.
A mind backdrop in which, while not mentioning the liberation war struggle for Zimbabwe directly, he was trying to argue that politics should lead the gun without ambiguity.
The Elitist Angle
However, it still gave the impression of being elitist, pretensive and sadly choreographed.
There was no sense of any organic liberatory politics to this second reading of CAB3 or its justification by Ziyambi Ziyambi.
Even when he tried to justify a further politicisation of traditional chiefs’ roles.
We know that the majority of them were colonially appointed after the first Chimurenga. And that their some of their lineages have the insignia Rhodesia written all over them anyway.
By the time MP Zvobgo gave a Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the second reading with contestable outreach figures about what the public said about CAB3, it was not persuasive in the least.
It appeared more of a rehearsed and agreed-upon report with the Minister, save for its averment that the gender commission should remain.
The key point, however, is to state the obvious to all of us as Zimbabweans.
We cannot continue to shoulder the burden of the ruling Zanu Pfs elitist factionalism.
From the nationalists through to the war veterans, refugees, detainees, mujibhas, chimbwidos and now these so-called ‘zvigananda’.
Including a very highly complicit parliamentary and local government political opposition presence and support for Zanu-PF’s elitist factionalism for material gain.
Hence, they are still in Parliament pretending to argue or in local government and privatising water and other social amenities.
So we have a national burden cdes.
It may not be as argued in an anti-colonial historical book, ‘Black Man’s Burden’ by Basil Davidson.
But it is now a national burden all the same. And we can see it in the abuse of the masses via materialism, shallow populism and religion.
It is also one in which Zanu-PF and its elitist factionalism seeks to transpose itself on our national political culture in perpetuity. While creating factional oligarchies in our national political economy beyond 2030
And repeat their 2017 suçcession battles even in 2026 or by the time of their elective congress in 2027.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
———————————————————————————————————-
Love what we do? We’re dedicated to opening up democracy, one article, video and story at a time. If you find our reporting helpful, you can support the Magamba Network team by buying us a coffee. It’s quick, easy, and makes a real difference!
————————————————————————————————————
