Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika and Nyore Madzianike, Zimpapers Reporters
THE first sitting of Parliament will take place within 14 days after declaration of election results on a date determined by the Clerk of Parliament through a Government Gazette, according to new clauses that were introduced to the Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 (CAB3) by Senate last week.
Under the revised provisions, the Clerk of Parliament will also preside over the sitting of both the lower and upper houses until the election of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
The Senate also adopted significant amendments to align the process and period within which Parliament elects a substantive successor in the event that a sitting President dies, resigns or is removed from office.
Under the new provisions, a Vice President would serve as Acting President for up to 30 days while Parliament elects a successor.
The amendments, adopted on Wednesday, refine provisions already contained in the Bill by clarifying the role of an Acting President, streamlining parliamentary procedures for electing a new President and removing constitutional provisions that have since been overtaken by constitutional reforms recently passed in the lower house.
If enacted, the changes would mean that whenever a sitting President dies, resigns or is removed from office, the Vice President who was last designated to act in terms of Section 100 of the Constitution would temporarily assume the functions of President while Parliament elects a replacement within 30 days. The proposed changes were introduced by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi.
Explaining one of the amendments, Minister Ziyambi proposed deleting Section 101(3) of the Constitution, which currently deals with a Vice President assuming office as Acting President.
“Members will notice that in the Constitution there is a section which speaks about the assumption of office by President and Vice President. I am proposing that this section . . . be amended by the repeal of subsection (3). This is just a cleaning exercise,” he said.
“It has been overtaken by events. Honourable Members will recall that we amended the Constitution in Amendment No. 2 and we said there is no automatic elevation of a Vice President upon the death or vacation of office of a President. The political party would then nominate, but we are now saying
Parliament will elect within 30 days. This one is no longer relevant; hence I am proposing that it be deleted because it is no longer relevant in the Constitution.”
Minister Ziyambi also said the proposed amendments would plug a legal gap in processes to elect a new President.
“If the person elected President dies, resigns or is removed from office, the Vice President or where there are two Vice Presidents, the Vice President who was last nominated to act in terms of Section 100, acts as
President until a new President assumes office in terms of Section 92. I think in the clause that is there, there was a vacuum.
“We had left out that whenever there is a vacancy, the Vice President who last acted will continue acting until an election happens in Parliament. So, this is the correction that we are proposing,” he said.
The 2013 Constitution originally provided that where a President died, resigned or was removed from office, the First Vice President automatically assumed the Presidency for the remainder of the term, eliminating the need for a fresh presidential election.
However, Constitutional Amendment No. 2, enacted in 2021, altered that arrangement by removing automatic succession.
Instead, it provided that the political party which sponsored the President nominate a replacement to serve the remainder of the term.
The Senate is now proposing further changes through Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3.
Rather than allowing the governing political party to choose a successor, the Bill would require
Parliament to elect a new President within 30 days, with the designated Vice President serving only as
Acting President during the transition period.
Procedure
The Senate also adopted amendments refining the procedure through which Parliament would elect a President.
According to the revised provisions, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) would conduct the election in accordance with the Electoral Act and Parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders.
“The amendment that I am proposing (to Clause 3) is that the Bill be amended . . . by substituting subsection (5) so that the election of the President shall be conducted by the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission in accordance with the electoral law and Standing Orders. This is just to clean up the drafting to ensure that we refer to the electoral laws and the Standing Orders of Parliament,” Minister Ziyambi said.
Other amendments
The Senate further proposed amendments to Section 243 of the Constitution relating to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission by clarifying that one of its functions is to recommend to both Parliament and the Executive measures for promoting human rights, national healing, reconciliation and nation-building.
Following the Senate’s adoption of the amendments, the Bill will return to the National Assembly for consideration of the proposed changes before it can proceed through the remaining legislative stages.
Members of Parliament have since been summoned to attend an extraordinary sitting on Tuesday to consider and vote for some amendments in the Constitutional Amendment No 3 Bill that were made by the Senate.
Through General Notice 1003 of 2026, Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda indicated that all MPs are required to attend the sitting, which will take place at 2.15pm.
After scrutiny by Parliament, which is expected to wrap up this week, CAB3 will be sent to President Mnangagwa for assent.
