Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa signs law extending presidential term by 2 more years

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed into law constitutional amendments extending his term in office to 2030, according to government spokesman Nick Mangwana.

The amendments extend presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years and abolish direct presidential elections, allowing the president to be elected by parliament.

Zimbabwe’s parliament approved the amendments last month after the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front secured the required two-thirds majority in both houses.

“Signed, sealed and delivered – it is now law,” Mangwana said in a post on X, attaching a copy of the legislation.

Mnangagwa, 83, was due to leave office in 2028 but will now remain in power until 2030.

Nicknamed the “Crocodile” for his political skill, Mnangagwa would serve 12 years as president under the amendments, following the nearly four decades in power of his predecessor, Robert Mugabe.