Mnangagwa Insists Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 Was Just A Joke Blown Out Of Proportion

By The Reporters

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has revealed that Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3) was just a little joke taken too far by his party members, insisting that he never meant it to be taken too seriously. 

Mnangagwa said that during a politburo meeting at the party headquarters in 2024, he made a joke about amending the Constitution so that he could stay a little bit longer in power. He was absolutely surprised to see the party's inner circle get all too serious with it, he intimated to The Reporters. 

"You know, I was a tad tipsy on whisky, and I made this joke about my staying in power for a little bit longer, you know. It was just made in the spirit of comradeship. Little did I know that we would get here, with the party's machinery imposing this on the great people of Zimbabwe," he said to The Reporters. 

"I thought it was just something my comrades would easily brush over as one of those ED jokes, me being funny and all. But they decided to give me the chance, and I have to say, who am I to refuse an extra two years? I've come to realize it aligns perfectly with the ethos of the revolution," Mnangagwa said. 

Ziyambi Ziyambi, the Justice, Parliamentary, and Legal Affairs minister who is spearheading the drastic legal change in Parliament, remarked that it was in the "best interests" of both the President and the country that the bill comes to life. 

"People say a whole lot of things about ZANU-PF, most of which is nonsense really. Although His Excellency was joking, as the party of the people, we thought it very wise to do this in the best interests of both the President and Zimbabwe. It is for the good of everyone. You know, we should not let some jokes slide. If something benefits everyone, why sleep on it?" 

Ziyambi dismissed sentiments that CAB3 is a foregone conclusion, insisting that there will be "rigorous" debate in Parliament and that legislators could either adopt or discard the bill. The bill has since been presented before Parliament. 

Efforts to get comments from George Charamba, the Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet (Presidential Communications), were fruitless at the time of going to press.