“A Republican House member introduced a resolution to amend the American Constitution to allow President Donald Trump - and any other future presidents - to be elected to serve a third term.” reported CNBC.
One cannot the joy and jubilation this news has brought to Mnangagwa and his “Mnangagwa for 2030” bandwagon. If the Americans can amend their constitution to allow their president to serve a third term, surely Zimbabweans should be allowed to do the same! What is good for the goose is good for the gander!
Comparing the two amendments and the two nation is nonsensical and here is why:
- 1) American constitutional amendment will allow future presidents to stand for election for a third term, Zimbabwe’s proposed constitutional amendment is seeking to allow parliament to postpone elections to allow president, MPs, Senators and all other elected public officials to extend their stay in office without having to seek a fresh mandate from the people.
- 2) The people of Zimbabwe were stuck with President Robert Mugabe for 37 years not because they wanted him to stay. They could not get him out of office because he rigged the elections. When Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe following the 2017 military coup, he promised to hold free and fair elections. He failed to keep his promise and he rigged the 2018 and 2023 elections. Zimbabweans fought hard to make sure the two term maximum limit was added to the 2013 Constitution as a desperate measure to stop vote rigging presidential leaders staying beyond the ten years.
- 3) America has a 250 year old tradition of holding free, fair and credible elections, all the nation’s presidents had the people’s mandate in a free, fair and credible elections. And so there is no fear that amending the constitution to allow a third term would have any detrimental effect on the quality of government.
- 4) Zimbabwe has failed to hold free, fair and credible elections in the country’s 45 years of independence. Free, fair and credible elections are not just a fundamental right, there are the very essence of good governance. Zimbabwe is a dysfunction autocracy that has failed to remove failed leaders through elections because they rig elections and has been hoping to limit the failed leaders to stay in office through maximum term limit.
The proposed American constitutional amendment to allow future president to serve a third term will have no effect on the quality of government because it is the free, fair and credible people’s democratic mandate that has been the guarantor of quality government. The proposed Zimbabwe constitutional amendment to postpone elections will give the vote rigging ruling elite the absolute power to do as the damn well please and drag the nation even deeper into the economic and political abyss.
To compare amending the American constitution to allow one to serve a third presidential term to Zimbabwe’s amendment to take away the people’s power to elect leaders is as outrageous as comparing drinking water to drinking poison!
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1ZkJzRYwLZLJv
ReplyDeleteNGO promise to resist Mnangagwa's drive to extend his rule beyond the two term maximum limit. In the past the same "busy bodies" have vowed to stop Zanu PF rigging elections only to do nothing. Chamisa and company have conned the NGO to participate in flawed elections just as easily as they conned the opposition supporters.
Zanu PF will be counting on Chamisa and the NGO conning the people to participate in the flawed and illegal referendum process to give the result legitimacy. They are never disappointed in the past and are not likely to start now!
The only sure way to stop Mnangagwa amending the constitution is NOT to participate in the flawed process, especially now that SADC and AU have both condemned the flawed process.
@ Svosve
ReplyDeleteAfter decades of wittering about Chamisa as Change Champion in Chief are you ever going to admit that Chamisa is a liar who conned millions to participate in flawed elections to perpetuate Zanu PF rule out of greed?
Reports indicate that police are investigating the protest video, although national police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi was unavailable for comment.
ReplyDeleteZANU-PF spokesperson Farai Marapira responded to the protests, stating that while Zimbabweans have the right to express their views, they should do so in accordance with the law. He emphasized that the law must be respected and that those pushing for an extension of Mnangagwa's term should not be silenced.
"Democracy entails people respecting other people's opinions," Marapira told NewsDay. "Those who want the President to continue are expressing their views, and they should not be stifled. We encourage those who want to protest to do it under the ambit of the law."
However, the protests have sparked criticism from political and civil society groups. MDC spokesperson Lloyd Damba condemned the government's response, accusing the ruling party of bullying dissenting voices. Damba argued that the church, which has also voiced concerns over the term extension, was merely expressing a legitimate concern about the political stability of the country.
"It is a fact that the proposed amendments are self-serving and very selfish, which may lead to civil strife in the country," Damba said. "By openly bullying the church, the government is making it clear that dissent is a no-go area and will not be tolerated by those in power today."
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a group of civil society organizations, has also raised alarms over the proposed amendments. The coalition held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss strategies to resist changes to the Constitution, expressing concerns that the push for term extension could fuel civil unrest.
The situation is drawing parallels to the tumultuous period leading up to the fall of former President Robert Mugabe, who was ousted in a 2017 military coup after failing to manage his succession. As calls for the extension of Mnangagwa's term grow, tensions are rising within both the ruling party and among ordinary Zimbabweans, further complicating the nation's already volatile political landscape.”
Zanu PF has two trump cards to guarantee the party victory and legitimacy;
1) Zanu PF knows that Chamisa & co. will participate in the flawed referendum process just as they have participated in flawed elections in the past. The party has bribed opposition leaders and all the other key players including ZEC, judiciary, church leaders, chiefs, etc. to make sure they play their part.
2) To get political legitimacy, especially now after both SADC and AU condemned the 2023 election process as flawed and illegal, Zanu PF will be counting on the opposition to mobilise its supporters to participate in the flawed process in their millions. The brainwashing of the people to believe they can and will win the RIGGED process has started in earnest and Zanu PF will be burning the midnight candle to make sure it does not fail.
Zanu PF was damn luck to get away with rigged 2023 elections, the party is scarred silly it will not get away with another rigged elections and amending the constitution taking away the need for future elections is a realistic way out. The party may eve get away with SADC and AU referendum observers!
The tragedy is Zimbabwe is in serious economic and social trouble and yet cannot address any of these problems as long as the political problem of failure to hold free and fair elections remain unresolved. Zanu PF is holding the nation to ransom!
https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-opinion-sc-columnist-byo-249932.html
ReplyDeleteMnangagwa and his apologists are using the proposal to change America's constitution so Trump can serve a third term to justify amending Zimbabwe's constitution to extend Mnangagwa's rule to 2030. The two amendments are as different ad deadly as drinking water and drinking poison! How anyone can compare the two beggars belief!
“ZANU-PF Politburo member Ziyambi Ziyambi has come to President Emmerson Mnangagwa's defence amid growing calls within the ruling party to amend Zimbabwe's constitution and extend Mnangagwa's term to 2030.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking to party members in Mashonaland West, Ziyambi dismissed claims that Mnangagwa is personally pushing for the extension. Instead, he said the calls reflect the will of the broader ZANU-PF membership.
"At no time did President Mnangagwa say he wants this or that, about the issue of 2030," Ziyambi said. "It is us as the people and general membership of ZANU-PF who expressed our desire about what we want him to do. He is not in the equation or this discourse."
Ziyambi is the third high-ranking official in recent days to publicly defend Mnangagwa against accusations of seeking to prolong his presidency. His remarks follow similar statements from Information Minister Jenfan Muswere and Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, both regarded as Mnangagwa loyalists.
Muswere described the push to extend the presidential term as a "rightful and unquestionable obligation" of ZANU-PF and other stakeholders. Charamba, meanwhile, emphasized that Mnangagwa respects the constitutional process and the expression of public viewpoints.”
Mnangagwa is a buffoon and like all buffoon who get into positions of power and authority the elevation inflate their ego. When he took over from Mugabe in 2017 he was cocksure everything he touched will turn into gold. When he announced his flagship “Zimbabwe is open for business!” mantra, he expected a flood of new investors to follow.
Investors are a shrewd lot, they could see that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state the musical chairs of the military coup had changed nothing.
Mnangagwa refused to accept that he was a buffoon with no idea what he was doing. He continue wearing his trademark Zimbabwe flag-scarf symbolising his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” mantra. The flatters around him were quick to tell him what he wanted to hear; that he was a genius and just need more time for his ideas to come to fruition. Vision 2030 was born!
Mnangagwa has been in office for over seven years there are no signs of economic recovery much less the economic boom required to turn Zimbabwe, a failed state into an upper middle income nation by 2030 envisaged by vision 2030. Every one can see vision 2030 is a mirage but no one will dare say it as long as Mnangagwa remains the top dog!
In the 2017 military coup it was not until the Zanu PF leaders were sure the coup was a success that they abandoned Mugabe to join Mnangagwa and company. Given half a chance the Zanu PF goons will dump Mnangagwa just as readily as the dumped Mugabe in 2017, they know vision 2030 is a mirage and that Mnangagwa is just a buffoon!
@ Honest
ReplyDeleteZanu PF rigged the 2018 and 2023 elections they got away with it because the sell out opposition have been participating in the flawed elections to give the regime legitimacy out of greed. When both SADC and AU condemned the 2023 elections Zanu PF knew that Chamisa & Co. had lost political credibility. Zanu PF will be pushed to get away with yet another rigged election!
@ Rutendo
ReplyDeleteHe bought some of the land for a song and sold it for a fortune - how was that possible?
Do you that millions of ordinary Zimbabwe are NOT allowed to own even the few square metres of land on which their mud hut stand?
The colonial masters did not want blacks to own land because they feared they would want political power next. After independence Zanu PF has retained the same policy for the same selfish political reasons. Mnangagwa has given title deeds to Chiyangwa and all the other land looters but still refused to give title deed to rural peasants.
You, being the scum bug that you are, have been singing the praises of the looters and are indifferent to the plight of the millions living in abject poverty.
@ Developer
ReplyDeleteWhen you know the voting is flawed and that participating will only give the vote rigger legitimacy and still you continue participating time and time again; you deserve to be cheated and to suffer for it! Millions of Zimbabweans were conned by Chamisa to participate in the 2023 elections because they believed the idiotic lie that he plugged all vote rigging loop holes when they all knew the voters’ roll was in shambles, for example. How foolish was that!
@ MBOMA
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you there. The only real change is stopping Zanu PF rigging elections and getting away with it. The real question is why have we failed to do so. People participated in the flawed 2023 elections knowing do so will give Zanu PF legitimacy because Chamisa conned them. As long as there are millions of Zimbabweans who are so easily conned to do foolish things - nothing will change. NOTHING!
The people were foolish to be conned to vote Zanu PF into office and now you think you can remove the regime through street protests!!!! You need to put your thinking cap on.
@ Chief Svosve
ReplyDeleteThis is the nightmare of politic of empty rhetoric and slogans. “Get involved!” Get involved how?
You and your Change Champion in Chief, Nelson Chamisa, conned the nation to participate in flawed and illegal elections knowing fully well that participating would give Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuate the dictatorship. Chamisa insisted in participating, GET INVOLVED, promised that CCC would win big because he “plugged all the vote rigging loop holes to stop Zanu PF rigging. #Godisinit!” The twat even evoked the name of GOD!
Of course, Chamisa lied about plugging all the vote rigging loop holes and this was not the first time he lied. I will be damned if the twat is going to be allowed to continue conning the nation with his idiotic lies!
You, Chief Svosve has been Chamisa’s Chief cheer leader for decades and so I ask you again: Do you accept that Chamisa lied ad conned the people to participate in flawed elections out of greed?
ANSWER ME! YOU TWAT!
MDC/CCC leaders have failed to implement even one token reform to stop Zanu PF rigging elections in 25 years. They are Zanu PF operatives in all but name; always playing for Zanu PF to win and get legitimacy.
“Get involve!” Yeah right! Get involved in conning the people to participate in the flawed and illegal referendum so that at the end of the day Zanu PF amend the constitution giving the regime carte blanche power to take away the right to vote?
Are you going to answer me? You will answer me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5WhrXzgTMo
ReplyDelete"Say no to 2030! Get Involved!" argue Chief Svosve of Change Radio and Nelson Chamisa's chief cheer leader.
Get involved in what, exactly?
Zanu PF rigged the 2023 elections and got away with it because Chamisa and Co. conned the people to participate in flawed elections knowing fully well that participating will give Zanu PF legitimacy. Chamisa lied about plugging vote rigging loop holes!
Denying Zanu PF political legitimacy in the flawed and illegal 2023 elections was infinitely easier that doing the same in flawed and illegal referendum. There will be no voters' roll, no SADC and AU observers, etc.; for a start. So it is all very well for Svosve to ask people to be involved. Involved in what? Involved in yet another opposition con to give Zanu PF legitimacy?
A REPUBLICAN House member has introduced a resolution to amend the United States Constitution to allow President Donald Trump, and any other future President, to be elected to a third term in the White House.
ReplyDeletePresident Trump “has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation's decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal,” said Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee on Thursday, who proposed extending the current maximum of two elected terms.
“It is imperative that we provide President Trump with every resource necessary to correct the disastrous course set by the Biden administration,” Ogles said in a statement.
“He is dedicated to restoring the republic and saving our country, and we, as legislators and as states, must do everything in our power to support him,” said Ogles, a hard-line conservative who is serving his second term in the House.
“I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms,” he added.
Ogles' move came three days after Trump was sworn in for a second, non-consecutive term — becoming only the second US president to accomplish that feat.
And the resolution comes two months after Representative Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, introduced a House resolution that “reaffirms that the 22nd Amendment applies to two terms in the aggregate as President of the United States,” and that the amendment applies to the 78-year-old Trump.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Ogles' resolution.
For a resolution to amend the Constitution to be sent to the Archivist of the United States, it must receive a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. If that is done, three-fourths of the states — 38 — must ratify the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution.
The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution states in part, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
Ogles' resolution seeks to revise this to read, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times.”
The original amendment also states, “No person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”
In his statement Thursday, Ogles said the resolution he was introducing “would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”
Proposed in 1947 and ratified in 1951, the 22nd Amendment was authored to prevent a repeat of President Franklin Roosevelt's unprecedented election to four terms in office.
To this day, Roosevelt is the only president ever to have been elected to more than two terms. He died in 1945, less than 90 days after his fourth inauguration.”
Like it or not this has been good news to Africa’s despot leaders. The gene is out of the bottle, thanks to the Americans, there is no putting it back and God knows what mischief the despots will get up to now they have blank cheque!
@ Kadzutu
ReplyDelete“Muuyiseyi ku Mental Hospital timbo mu assessor, maybe there could be a Mental derailment of high magnitude bcz the way he denigrates from Tsvangirai to Chamisa, MDC and CCC, he is another Tshabangu.”
So I am a mental patient because I have dared to say Chamisa lied about plugging the vote rigging loop holes to con people to participate in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. This is a historic fact and, more significantly, it has tragic consequences for the whole nation. How any one could still be in denial over this much less call those speaking the truth insane beggars belief.
The call of the wild, the tribesman mentality, is so strong millions out there still believe Chamisa is a demigod. The tragedy is the opposition are going to con the brain dead to participate in the flawed and illegal referendum to give Zanu PF the power to cancel elections willy-nilly.
No wonder we are a failed state; we really have some village idiots amongst us. How can any one believe a mere mortal is a demigod in this day and age! Fcuk me!
Zanu PF rigged 2023 elections and was very luck to get away with it given SADC and AU damning reports. Mnangagwa does not want to face yet another gruelling election even if the issue of exceeding the two term limit was put aside. He knowns that Chamisa & Co. political credibility has been tested to breaking point with his idiotic lies of plugging vote rigging loop holes to con people to participate in what everyone can see are flawed and illegal elections.
ReplyDeleteSo instead of elections Mnangagwa would rather have referendum. He will not have to worry about producing verified voters' roll, there will be no SADC or AU observers, etc. He already has all the elected MPs, senators and councillors in his deep pockets; the promise that they too will keep their gravy train seats without having to face fresh elections has clearly appealed to them too and not just Mnangagwa!
These war veterans are not democrats in that they said nothing when Mnangagwa rigged elections in the past and will say nothing if the new Zanu PF candidate rig 2028! We really must be shrewd enough by now not to be so easily conned into supporting wolves in sheep clothing!
ReplyDelete@ MC
ReplyDeleteYou postpone 2028 elections on what grounds? That Zanu PF will rig and yet keep the present regime in power! How any one can see that as a solution beggars belief!
@ Chief Svosve
ReplyDeleteYou are refusing to admit that Chamisa lied when he claimed that CCC would win big because he plugged all vote rigging loop holes. The consequences of the lie was millions participated in flawed 2023 elections to perpetuate the dictatorship and now he gearing to repeat the same lies to con the nation into perpetuating the suffering in 2028. You continue to cheer him along. You really are a nincompoop Chief Svosve!
https://www.facebook.com/4415858595176450/videos/1121948499573245
ReplyDeleteChamisa lied about CCC winning the 2023 elections because he "plugged all the vote rigging loop holes. #Godisinit!" He conned millions to participate in the flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed. The consequences of the people believing the idiotic lie was perpetuating the dictatorship and the nations' suffering. This was not the first time Chamisa lied nor will it be the last!
So why is it that Chamisa continue to enjoy rock-star popularity including the people who are at the coal-face of the failed state?
ANSWER: the tribesman mentality rules the roost in Zimbabwe and Chamisa is exploiting it to the full! Tribesman mentality dictates blind loyalty to the leader regardless of the truth and the dire consequences!
As long as Zimbabweans retain this tribesman mentality the country will remain a failed state ruled by buffoons and sell-outs!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdaN87f-d1k
ReplyDeleteRigging elections is tough and getting away with it is getting even tougher as the 2023 Zimbabwe elections showed. Rigging the 2013 referendum on the new constitution and getting away with it were all a walk in the park. It is no surprise therefore that Mnangagwa and Zanu PF are going all out for the option of a referendum to amend the constitution to postpone 2028 elections!
Chamisa conned the nation to participate in the flawed and illegal 2023 elections only to give Zanu PF legitimacy there is a real danger he will do the same giving the referendum legitimacy. The consequences of amending the constitution are far worse than the rigged elections. He must be stopped and/or Zanu PF denied legitimacy!
If it was tough to stop Chamisa conning people and/or deny Zanu PF legitimacy before it is even tougher to do so now. Game on!
@ Chief Svosve
ReplyDeleteSaying Chamisa lied in not crazy but denying it is crazy. I will ask you again: Did Chamisa lie when he said he plugged all the vote rigging loop holes?
Your blind loyalty to Chamisa is so much that you must deny the truth! Zimbabwe cannot afford to be held back by the nincompoops who think their loyalty to a leader is more important than the truth especially when the consequences of such stupidity is perpetuating the Zanu PF dictatorship.
You will not be allowed to spread your falsehoods and brainwashing the nation as freely as in the past. Watch this space.
@ Regalia
ReplyDeleteRefusing to admit that Chamisa lied and conned people to participate in flawed elections is more than rhetoric especially given the consequences! But then there are many with the tribesman mentality who are incapable of seeing anything beyond their nose!
@ Mbofana
ReplyDelete“So a president simply needs to declare a 'vision' and he becomes eligible for a term extension!
I understand it might seem repetitive to discuss the same issue daily, but this is a matter of critical importance, as the very fate of our country and its democracy hangs in the balance.
If addressing this issue repeatedly is what it takes to halt this madness, then so be it.
This reasoning - that a president's declaration of a national vision somehow entitles him to a term extension - is deeply disturbing.
It sets a dangerous precedent for how Zimbabwe could be governed in the future.”
The truth is the ordinary Zimbabweans have no say in the matter, they have never had any meaningful say in the governance of the country. The so-called vision 2030 is a mirage but that is neither here or there the point is Zimbabweans are being told it is real and they are demanding it and come the referendum that they have voted overwhelming for it!
Zimbabwe has never ever held free ad fair elections our greatest weakness is that we love to pretend that we are a healthy democracy, especially our corrupt and incompetent opposition. We know Zanu PF will rig the referendum and amend the constitution but Zimbabweans will participated with the usual passion and zeal of one expecting the process to be free and fair. They will mourn that the referendum was rigged when the results are out and its too late!
Do not participate in the referendum when you know the process is flawed and illegal; “so flawed, so illegal the logical step is to withdraw,” as Coltart once said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIyHrcqA_sU
ReplyDeleteThe people of Zimbabwe supported the 2017 military coup because they were conned by both Zanu PF and MDC leaders to believe it would bring about the Zimbabwe the nation had been dying for. It did not! WHY?
ANSWER: the coup removed Robert Mugabe, the dictator, and a handful of his cronies from power only to replace him with Mnangagwa, another dictator, plus his cronies. It was musical chairs, nothing changed. We must not make that mistake again.
What we want is to change the political system, implement the democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections and not just stop Mnangagwa amending the constitution to stay in power beyond 2028!