RE: SUBMISSIONS BY ZIMBABWEAN RETIRED GENERALS AND SENIOR CIVIL SERVANTS WHO ARE EX COMBATANTS
On the Proposed Constitutional Amendments Number 3 Bill (H.B 1, 2026) and the Sanctity of the People’s Will
We must first begin with revolutionary salutations.
We are responding in terms of Section 328(4) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which calls for public submissions.
We write this submission as men and women who fought in the liberation struggle. We speak as ex-combatants who carried arms, crossed borders, endured hunger, disease and death in the bush so that the people of Zimbabwe could one day govern themselves through a Constitution of their own making.
We fought against minority rule, against qualified franchise, against a system where a small group decided the fate of the majority. We rejected Ian Smith’s Parliament where MPs voted on behalf of millions who had no say.
Power belongs to the people. That is the fundamental principle we bled for.
We note that the liberation movements, ZANU and ZAPU, were built on the motto that sovereignty resides with the people. When the Lancaster House Constitution was negotiated, it was transitional. When the people rejected the 2000 draft Constitution in a referendum, we accepted the verdict of the people even though many of us had contributed to that document. That is democracy.
In 2013 the people of Zimbabwe voted overwhelmingly to adopt the current Constitution. That Constitution was not imposed; it went through a rigorous process including public consultations, thematic committees and a national referendum. Over 3 million Zimbabweans voted Yes. That Constitution is ours. It carries our fingerprints and our blood.
Section 212 of the Constitution mandates the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to:
“to uphold the Constitution, to defend Zimbabwe against external attack or threat and to give support to the civil power in the event of an emergency or disaster.”
We take that mandate seriously. We are not onlookers. We are stockholders in this Republic and in ZANU PF.
The proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 of 2026 seeks, among other things, to change the manner in which the President is elected — moving away from direct popular vote to a system where Parliament elects or endorses the President. This is a fundamental alteration of the democratic gains we fought for.
Such a change returns us to the logic of qualified suffrage — where a select few (MPs) decide on behalf of 17 million Zimbabweans. That is not what we fought Ian Smith to end. That is what we fought to abolish.
The liberation war was about one man one vote. Universal suffrage. Direct election of leaders by the people. Anything that dilutes or removes that principle is a betrayal of the blood spilled from 1966 to 1979.
We recall that in 2000 the people rejected a Constitution that sought to extend executive powers and reintroduce elements of indirect control. We respected that No vote. Today we demand the same respect for the people’s will.
If this Amendment is truly in the interest of the people, let the people decide through a referendum as happened in 2000 and 2013. Anything less undermines the very foundation of our liberation struggle.
We therefore humbly but firmly submit that:
-
Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 of 2026 (H.B. 1, 2026) be subjected to a national referendum so that the sovereign will of the people — the same people we fought for — can be expressed directly.
-
Parliament should not usurp the people’s right to decide on such a fundamental matter.
-
Any attempt to change the method of electing the President without consulting the people directly is inconsistent with the spirit of the liberation struggle and with Section 3 of the Constitution which declares that Zimbabwe is founded on principles of democracy, transparency, accountability and the rule of law.
We stand ready to defend the Constitution we helped bring into being. We will not be silent while attempts are made to erode the gains of the liberation struggle under the guise of constitutional reform.
We fought once. We are prepared to speak — and if necessary act — again to protect what we won.
Yours in the continuing revolution,
[Represented by]
Retired Air Marshal Henry Muchena
On behalf of Zimbabwean Retired Generals and Senior Civil Servants who are Ex-Combatants
