Zimbabwe Alters Constitution, Museveni Targets Opponents

Zimbabwe’s regime has leveraged its control of the lower house of parliament to pass controversial constitutional amendments eliminating direct presidential elections and extending dictator Emmerson Mnangagwa’s illegitimate mandate by two years. HRF condemns this sweeping authoritarian power grab through constitutional manipulation.

216 lawmakers of Zimbabwe’s National Assembly, which is dominated by the ruling ZANU-PF, voted in favor of the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 (#CAB3). The bill amends the country’s 2013 constitution by extending the current mandates of the president and lawmakers until 2030 and giving the ZANU-PF-controlled parliament the authority to elect the president, eliminating universal suffrage in presidential polls.

A parliamentary committee claimed 99.4% of public submissions about the bill supported the changes. However, political opposition, civil society, and some factions within the ruling party have each vigorously criticized the bill. The regime and its supporters have responded to the criticism with a brutal campaign of repression.

Mnangagwa came to power in 2017 through a military coup that ousted Robert Mugabe, promising a new democratic era. The 2013 constitution, designed specifically to prevent Mugabe-style concentration of power, now stands to be gutted by the very system it was meant to constrain. At 83, Mnangagwa would be in office until he is 88.

Mnangagwa is among several African authoritarian leaders, including Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh, Cameroon’s Paul Biya, Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara, and Republic of Congo’s Denis Sassou Nguesso, who have bent their constitutions to cling to power, emboldening other autocrats in the region.

HRF condemns draconian new foreign financing restrictions imposed by Uganda’s dictatorship on political opposition and NGOs under a new law that codifies centralized political control of dissent under the guise of curbing foreign influence.

In May, Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni signed the controversial Protection of Sovereignty bill into law. The law requires individuals and groups engaged in policy change or government accountability efforts that receive external sources of funding to register as “agents of a foreigner.” It hands the minister of internal affairs sweeping authority to shape NGO registration eligibility criteria and rules, as well as to control the issuance, suspension, and revocation of certificates of registration. The minister has the power to inspect and approve activities of registered “foreign agents” and to deregister organizations without appeal or legal review. Groups must disclose all employees, funders, and agreements, and obtain cabinet approval before carrying out their work.

While exempting foreign funding to government, health, academic, research, faith-based institutions, and diaspora remittances, among others, the law criminalizes civic engagement activities, including influencing the public to oppose a government policy and engaging in activities deemed by authorities to be “disruptive” — such as influencing the enactment of legislation or government decision-making. A specific provision calls out “influencing, imposing or normalising ideologies which are inconsistent with the Constitution or which conflict with any culture, customs,” a likely allusion to LGBTQ rights advocacy.

The law imposes fines ranging from one to two trillion Ugandan shillings ($273,000 – $546,000) and prison terms of up to 10 years for offenses such as receiving foreign funding to participate in “disruptive activities,” knowingly promoting the interest of a foreigner against the interests of Uganda, advocating for a foreign policy that is not the government’s, organizing a meeting or any function “with the aim of interfering with the operations of Government,” and “knowingly publishing false information or participating in any disruptive act or activity” deemed to “weaken, undermine or damage the economic system or viability of the country.”