Zimbabwe: President Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended his term by adding two more years until 2030. In his term, he has also abolished the right of citizens to directly elect President. Both houses of the Southern African nation’s parliament approved the bill last month.
Spokesman Nick Mangwana clarified this and stated that on Tuesday, July 07, 2026, the delegates of the parliament signed into law constitutional amendments and extended his term in office to 2030. Hence, the President Mnangagwa will be elected only by the Members of Parliament now. The amendments extended presidential and parliamentary terms from 5 years to 7 years.
Reportedly, the parliament of Zimbabwe approved the amendments last month, after the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front secured the required two-thirds majority in both houses.
Mangwana said in a post, shared on X, attaching a copy of the legislation, “signed, sealed and delivered, it is now law.”
President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, aged 83, was due to leave office in 2028 but will now remain in power until 2030.
As per the sources, Mnangagwa has been nicknamed as “CROCODILE” for his political skill. He would serve 12 years as president under the amendments, following the nearly four decades in power of his predecessor former president – Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended his term by an additional 2 years until 2030.
He also abolished the right of citizens to directly elect Presidents. Henceforth, the President will be elected Members of Parliament.
A term has been extended from 5 to 7 years. pic.twitter.com/v7zxikiyHi
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) July 8, 2026
President Emmerson Mnangagwa clearly intends to remain in power beyond the end of his constitutionally mandated second term in 2028. This first emerged around two years ago, when supporters began chanting slogans at ZANU-PF rallies and urged him to stay in office to complete his agenda.
Those calls later gained institutional backing with the ruling ZANU-PF party. They also adopted a resolution last year by proposing constitutional amendments to extend presidential terms.
Furthermore, this proposal advanced in February 2026 after receiving support from the Cabinet. Then this fuelled debate over the constitutional framework of the country and future of political leadership of Zimbabwe.
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean politician who was born on September 15, 1942 and is serving as the President of Zimbabwe, since 2017. His rule has been described as a dictatorship. He was the first vice-president during the Mugabe’s term from 2014 to 2017, when he was dismissed before coming to power in a coup d’état.
Mnangagwa later secured his first full-term as president in the disputed 2018 general election. He was re-elected in the 2023 Zimbabwean general election with 52.6% of the vote.