Harare, Zimbabwe – Out on the streets of Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe’s third largest urban centre, the sun is blazing – just like the tempers inside a fully packed hall at the town’s main aquatic complex.At the entrance stands a small mob, including a combative woman in a cream floral dress, who heckles every speaker championing plans to approve an amendment to the country’s constitution.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIf approved, the amendment will extend the term of the current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to 2030. The bill, among other things, changes presidential and legislative terms from five to seven years while giving parliament the power to elect the president.Currently, the president is chosen through a popular vote in direct elections and can only serve two terms. But while Mnangagwa is in his second term, his ZANU-PF party dominates parliament with a firm majority, and critics fear that the amendments could make it even harder for anyone other than a leader from the party to become president in the future.This week, at venues across Zimbabwe, parliament hosted four days of public hearings to discuss the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.3) Bill, popularly known as CAB3, to collect people’s views on the proposed changes.At the hearing in Chitungwiza, a supporter of the bill stood up and requested the microphone. She claimed she represented seven million supporters of the legi …
