Harare – A decade of political paralysis has trapped Zimbabwe in a vicious cycle where the political configuration enables corruption, and corruption in turn reinforces and protects the political configuration, according to a damning assessment released Thursday by the Platform for Concerned Citizens (PCC).

In a statement co-authored by PCC co-conveners Ibbo Mandaza and Tony Reeler, the organization argues that the country requires more than another election, more than a forced transition within the ruling party, or a government of national unity.

Instead, Zimbabwe needs a “thorough reset”—a suggestion that gained traction in 2025 and appears to have support even within the ruling party, reflected in repeated statements by the Vice President and war veterans about the capture of the state by a corrupt elite.

The PCC noted that Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s statements have sparked remarkably little concern within ZANU-PF or the government, despite it being “common cause right around the country that the nexus of corruption and politics is so palpably obvious.” Chiwenga has remained silent and has not bothered to defend his claims, according to the statement, because he is “merely expressing what the entire nation knows to be true.”

Meanwhile, the government continues with rhetoric that all is well and the economy is recovering, but the PCC pointed to nearly a decade of public opinion contradicting this narrative.

From 2017 to 2024, more than two-thirds of citizens believed the country was going in the wrong direction, with the same majority describing their living conditions as very bad or fairly bad. Only 13 percent claim full-time employment, while over half have gone without cash income.

“The government had no possibility of serious reform, either politically or economically, and what was true in 2016 is still true in 2026,” the statement reads. The PCC cited failures to take advantage of the Arrears Clearance and Debt Relief Process, providing only minimal reforms under the Economic Growth and Stability framework, remaining stuck on Land Tenure Reforms, and failing wholesale on Governance Reforms.

“The rule of law and protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms remain weak and too frequently violated with impunity,” the authors wrote. “Even constitutionalism is being challenged by the 2030 agenda, and hence it is unsurprising that Zimbabwe is deemed an Electoral Autocracy, and scores poorly on virtually every international indicator of democracy and governance.”

Constitutional Amendments Draw Fire

The PCC warned that the push to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term to 2030 is reaching a critical point, with a constitutional amendment bill set to be presented to parliament in the coming session.

Given ZANU-PF’s parliamentary majority and “the demolition of the legitimately elected opposition through recalls,” the PCC described the amendment’s passage as “probably a foregone conclusion.”

However, the organization noted that public opinion has consistently rejected such moves. No poll for nearly a decade has shown support for an extension of terms, with over three-quarters of citizens rejecting extended presidential terms and one-man or one-party rule.

The proposed amendments extend far beyond presidential terms, encompassing 20 individual changes. Drawing on a recent SAPES Policy Dialogue, the PCC quoted Munyaradzi Gwisai and Hopewell Chi’nono, who argued the amendments are “about entrenching a political party in power for life, obliterating constitutionalism, and removing all power from the citizenry.”

Gwisai warned that 500 members of parliament would be deciding the country’s future, ignoring the vast majority of citizens who voted for the current constitution, thereby removing “the fundamental right of the people to decide who rules.” According to Gwisai, what lies behind the amendments is an attempt by the “zviganandas”—a term for criminal elements—to achieve the “complete capture of the state.”

The proposed changes include the removal of the Gender Commission, which Chipo Dendere described as “a public slap in the face for women and the women’s movement,” reducing women’s issues to just another rights issue and ignoring the constitutional commitment to gender parity.

Avoiding a Referendum

The PCC argued that the legal maneuvering behind the proposed amendments is specifically designed to avoid a national referendum. “The evidence here is very clear: ZANU-PF understands very clearly that the proposal has no attraction for the majority and will fail in the court of public opinion in spectacular fashion.”

A counter-campaign is being driven by the Defend the Constitution Platform (DCP), along with the NCA, the MDC, and others. Chi’nono noted how poorly the country has dealt with political crises since 2000, adding, “now we dare not fail.”

The PCC called for a united approach from all opponents, including political parties, civil society, and the diaspora, insisting “there can be no ownership, only co-operation if the challenge is to succeed.”

Predatory State and the Need for Transition

The statement traces Zimbabwe’s current predicament to 2016, when the notion that the country had become a “securocrat state” sounded fanciful to many. “This can no longer be denied: a coup did take place and the securocracy has been consolidated into a predatory state,” the authors wrote.

“Predatory states do not reform themselves and keep going until they collapse from all the internal contradictions or more usually from the conflict between factions in the state fighting for control, that terrible nexus between politics and corruption.”

The PCC reiterated its call for a National Transitional Authority (NTA)—first proposed in 2016 as a “soft landing”—warning that instead the country appears to be heading for a “hard landing.”

The organization dismissed a government of national unity as unworkable “when one party holds all the reins of effective power,” particularly in the “complete absence of an opposition.”

Popular civic action, while desirable, seems unlikely “in the absence of any viable organisation and the clear lack of trust by the citizenry for any political party.” The populace, the PCC argued, is not apathetic but “just without any credible direction to follow, and offered only a continuance of the existing regime for five more years.”

The growing signs of serious conflict within ZANU-PF, the statement concluded, are “no cause for celebration but deeply worrying when there is no apparent solution in sight.”

The authors argued that the solution lies in a thorough reset, possible only through a political settlement and transitional arrangement—an approach that has been implemented more than 50 times globally when countries reach breaking point.

“Is the missing ingredient the demand for political settlement, national dialogue, and a National Transitional Authority capable of kick starting the massive reform needed and consolidating by a new government in a genuine free and fair election?” they asked.