Zimbabwe has released former finance minister Tendai Biti on bail after his arrest linked to a meeting opposing proposed constitutional changes that could push national elections to 2030 and change how the president is chosen.
Biti, a leading voice against the amendments, was granted US$500 bail on Monday, ordered to report to police twice a week, surrender his passport, and avoid convening or addressing public gatherings without notifying police, according to his lawyer Chris Ndlovu.
The case is the highest-profile detention so far tied to the campaign against the proposed amendments, which critics say are designed to extend President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s rule beyond his second term, due to end in 2028.
Biti leads the Constitutional Defenders Forum, a group opposing the amendments. Ndlovu said Biti and the forum’s programmes director, Morgan Ncube, are accused of holding a public meeting without notifying police. The pair were detained on Saturday in Mutare.
What the amendments would change, and why it is politically explosive
The proposed changes would postpone elections to 2030, allow the president to be elected by Parliament instead of by popular vote, and extend presidential and parliamentary terms from five years to seven.
Supporters argue Parliament can pass the amendments without a referendum because the two-term limit would still apply, even though each term would be longer. Opponents say any attempt to extend the time a president can remain in office must be put to voters.
The contradiction at the heart of the debate
Mnangagwa has said he will step down when his term ends in 2028, but he has not publicly opposed the push from his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party to change the Constitution in a way that would delay elections and reset the political timetable.
At the same time, police have increasingly restricted physical organising against the amendments, including bans on meetings and arrests of people for gathering, according to rights groups.
Escalating pressure outside the courts
Amnesty International has described the arrests as an “escalating crackdown on peaceful dissent.” Earlier this month, law professor and opposition figure Lovemore Madhuku was hospitalised after an assault he said followed a meeting on the proposed changes. Police denied involvement. Last year, the SAPES Trust think tank offices were set on fire hours before a planned news conference by opponents of the amendments.
The immediate test will be whether authorities pursue full prosecutions against Biti and other organisers, or whether arrests continue to function as a warning to anyone trying to mobilise publicly as the amendment proposal moves through Parliament and court challenges.
Additional reporting sourced from The Associated Press. The Granite Post has independently verified key details.
