Chinamasa backs longer-term limits, cites China as a model

Longer terms and indirect presidential elections are being pitched as the fix for Africa’s stalled growth, with China held up as the blueprint.

Term extension pitch from ZANU PF

• Patrick Chinamasa, ZANU-PF Treasurer General, blamed Africa’s setbacks on constant government turnover.
• Chinamasa backed extending presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years.
• Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill 2026 carries that proposal.
• His argument centers on long-run policy rollout instead of stop-and-reset cycles.

China model held up as a template

• The People’s Republic of China was cited as the example to copy.
• Under the Communist Party of China, power sits within party leadership.
• Chinamasa pointed to China’s shift from agrarian poverty to industrial heavyweight status.
• He framed that trajectory as proof that steady rule delivers results.

Indirect presidential election proposal

• Another plank would shift presidential selection to Parliament.
• Universal suffrage, in his view, drains resources and stirs political tension.
• Chinamasa warned that a directly elected President could lack majority backing in Parliament.
• That mismatch, he argued, risks a weakened head of state struggling to govern.