Former Tourism Brand Zimbabwe social media ambassador Thomas Samoht Chizhanje says extending political term limits is not a national priority in a country where the majority of workers earn around US$250 per month.
Chizhanje, who is now based in the United States where he is studying Data Science, made the remarks as debate intensifies around Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 of 2026. The proposed changes could extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s tenure to 2030 and alter the manner in which future presidential elections are conducted.
In a strongly worded statement, Chizhanje framed the issue as one of economic survival rather than political timelines. He said:
“Over 90% of Zimbabweans earn less than US$500 per month.
The median income is estimated to be around US$250 per month. That means half of working adults earn below that amount.
In a country where rent, fuel, groceries, and school fees are priced in US dollars, this is not just low income. It is survival.
Now ask yourself honestly:
If the majority of citizens are earning below US$500 per month, is extending political terms the national priority?
When households are struggling to afford basics, when young people are unemployed or underpaid, when families depend on remittances to survive…the focus should be economic recovery, not term extension.
#NoTo2030 is not about personalities. It is about priorities.”
Economic Reality on the Ground
For many urban workers, US$250 barely covers monthly rent. After transport costs, groceries, electricity tokens and school fees, little, if anything, remains. In rural areas, families increasingly rely on informal trading, subsistence farming and remittances from relatives abroad to bridge the gap.
Public sector workers have repeatedly gone on strike since 2018, arguing that inflation has eroded their earnings. Nurses, teachers and other civil servants have staged periodic job actions demanding salary reviews pegged to the cost of living.
The government says it is finalising a job evaluation exercise that will lead to a reconfiguration of civil servants’ salaries. The exercise is projected to be complete by end of the first quarter of 2026. However, the extent of possible adjustments remain unclear.
Bill No. 3 and the Political Debate
Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 of 2026 has triggered sharp debate across political and civic spaces. Critics reject the bill arguing that extending the tenure of Councillors, Members of Parliament and the President without a fresh mandate from voters would undermine democratic principles.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has signalled that there will be no referendum, maintaining that the proposed changes do not introduce new term limits but merely lengthen existing ones and adjust the frequency of elections.
However, some constitutional analysts argue that extending an existing mandate without direct voter approval raises fundamental governance and legitimacy questions.
With ZANU PF holding a two-thirds majority in Parliament, the Bill has a realistic path to passage. The key question, as Chizhanje frames it, is whether constitutional timelines should take precedence over economic recovery in a country where many citizens are focused on day-to-day survival.
Leave a Reply