ZDVI Denounces Linking Diaspora Vote to Presidential Term Extension Bill

Melbourne - The Zimbabwe Diaspora Vote Initiative (ZDVI) has issued a stern rebuttal to recent claims by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi, regarding the newly gazetted Constitutional Amendment Number 3 Bill of 2026.

In a press statement, the advocacy group accused the government of wrongfully attempting to align the implementation of the diaspora vote with the controversial bill that seeks to extend presidential terms and alter the country's electoral system.

The ZDVI said the diaspora vote and Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 are two separate things.

The group sai the right for citizens abroad to vote is already enshrined in Section 67 of the current Constitution, which grants every Zimbabwean citizen over 18 the right to vote in all elections and referendums.

The Initiative argued that the current obstacles to diaspora participation are legislative rather than constitutional.

"As the Minister correctly points out, only an amendment of the Electoral Act is necessary to enable Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora to Vote."

The ZDVI further noted that Zimbabwe’s polling-station-based system is a product of the Electoral Act, not the Constitution itself.

They maintain that Section 67, when read with Clause 1 subsection (2) of the Constitution, allows for electoral laws to prescribe residential requirements that would permit those abroad to register using their external addresses for their home constituencies.

The push for a diaspora vote has been a point of contention for years. In 2018, the Constitutional Court dismissed an application, Shumba & Others v Minister of Justice, seeking to compel the government to facilitate voting for citizens abroad, ruling that the current legal framework required residency in a constituency.

The ZDVI however pointed to statements made by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in September 2018 during the United Nations General Assembly.

At that time, the President reportedly admitted that the diaspora vote was a "constitutional requirement" but cited logistical hurdles as the primary reason it was not implemented for the 2018 elections.

The ZDVI’s statement also took aim at the broader implications of Amendment Bill No. 3, which reportedly seeks to extend the presidential term from five to seven years.

The group highlighted Section 328(7) of the Constitution, which specifies that any amendment to a term-limit provision cannot benefit the person who held that office before the amendment.

They further argued that such significant changes must be put to a national referendum, one in which the diaspora must be allowed to participate.

"We are, therefore, strongly opposed to the process that the Minister is frantically arguing for not to submit the proposed amendments to a referendum," the statement read.