HARARE – The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has issued a sharp rebuke to Zanu PF after a party structure in Mashonaland East’s Mudzi district reportedly pressured churches to suspend Palm Sunday worship services on 29 March 2026 so congregants could attend a political party meeting.
In a strongly worded press statement on Sunday, the ZCC called the move “unacceptable and a direct affront to religious freedom,” invoking Section 60 of the constitution which guarantees freedom of conscience, religion, belief and opinion and the biblical injunction to “obey God rather than men.”
The incident is not an isolated one. It fits a recognisable pattern of intensifying Zanu PF mobilisation as the ruling party races to build public support for its deeply controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 ahead of parliamentary public hearings that began are set to begin on Monday.
Gazetted on February 16, the Amendment Bill No. 3 proposes extending presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years, replacing direct presidential elections with a parliamentary vote, and consolidating executive control over key state institutions.
Critics say the cumulative effect amounts to a fundamental reordering of Zimbabwe’s constitutional framework.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa began his second and constitutionally final term in 2023 and would be required to step down in 2028. Over a series of public appearances, however, supporters have declared that he would still be in office by 2030 – a rallying point within Zanu PF that ultimately culminated in the introduction of this bill.
With public hearings now underway, Zanu PF’s mobilisation machine is in full gear and observers say the tactics are growing increasingly coercive. Traditional leaders have been co-opted to pressure communities into backing the bill, with chiefs from Matabeleland North and South reportedly reaching a unanimous position of endorsement after a meeting in Bulawayo. Critics warn this risks undermining genuine democratic participation.
Manicaland’s provincial affairs minister Misheck Mugadza told party affiliates this week that their work was “crucial from 30 March to 2 April, during the consultations,” warning that any affiliate not supporting the bill was not a true party member.
The pressure has not been limited to persuasion. Human Rights Watch documented an incident on March 1 in Harare in which armed men in balaclavas forced their way into the offices of the National Constitutional Assembly, assaulting members including prominent lawyer Lovemore Madhuku, who has filed a constitutional court case seeking to halt the amendment process.
On March 23, opposition figure Tendai Biti, convenor of the Constitution Defenders Forum, was granted bail on conditions barring him from convening grassroots meetings on the bill – directly constraining the opposition’s ability to mobilise at a critical moment.
Despite Zanu PF’s parliamentary dominance — the party has a supermajority in the National Assembly following a series of parliamentary recalls by the main opposition — cracks are emerging.
Opposition legislator Agency Gumbo, part of the Constitution Defenders Platform, says he is actively lobbying disgruntled Zanu PF MPs who do not support the term extension and are ready to resist it.
Civil society, the legal community and now the churches are increasingly vocal.
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