{"id":115174,"date":"2026-02-12T23:31:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup"},"modified":"2026-02-13T01:39:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T23:39:51","slug":"sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup","title":{"rendered":"Sikhala petitions AU over Zanu PF\u2019s constitutional coup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>THE Job Sikhala-led National Democratic Working Group (NDWG) has petitioned the African Union (AU), demanding its intervention to stop Zanu PF from amending the Constitution to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa\u2019s term of office among other controversial proposals.<\/p>\n

In a petition dated February 11 addressed to African Commission chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, NDWG acting chairperson and chief facilitator Zenzo Nkomo said a constitutional coup was underway in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

\u201cNDWG, the Zimbabwe social justice movement under the leadership of Job Sikhala \u2014 the surviving political prisoner, lawyer and former Member of Parliament in Zimbabwe who is our chairman and chief facilitator \u2014 writes to your honourable office to alert you of the coup in motion currently happening in Zimbabwe in violation of Article 30 of the African Union (AU) Constitutive Act to extend and prolong the term of office of the incumbent,\u201d Nkomo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis petition seeks to highlight what is currently happening in Zimbabwe in relation to the instruments the AU created to counter the undemocratic imposition of rule by regimes without the consent of the governed \u2014 which in short amounts to a coup.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the Lome\u0301 Declaration (2000) and related protocols expanded upon what constituted an unconstitutional change of government (UCG), to include military coups and manipulation of the Constitution to stay in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur raising of the red flag against the developments happening in Zimbabwe is informed by point number 5 of the Lome\u0301 Declaration. Zimbabwe is a member State of the AU and in terms of international law, it is bound by the rules, protocols and the Charter of the AU,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevelopments happening in Zimbabwe to mutilate the Constitution to prolong and extend the term of office of the incumbent constitute a coup and unconstitutional change of government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nkomo said the AU could not remain silent when a coup is in motion in one of its member States, particularly given Zimbabwe\u2019s obligations under its charter and protocols.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people are being abused, lives are being lost, the anti-coup peaceful campaigners are under severe repression, attack and arbitrary arrests, and there is an escalation of human rights abuses as we petition you for your intervention,\u201d Nkomo said.<\/p>\n

He noted that the proposed constitutional amendments constitute a flagrant violation of the AU Constitutive Act.<\/p>\n

He demanded that Zimbabwe be suspended from the African Union as stipulated in Article 30 of the Constitutive Act, which provides that governments which come to power through unconstitutional means shall not be allowed to participate in the activities of the union.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo debunk any doubt in the minds of all those who may not have knowledge of our AU Constitutive Act provisions, the specific offences that constitute unconstitutional change of government were defined by the Lome\u0301 Declaration in 2000 to give effect to what constitutes unconstitutional change of government,\u201d Nkomo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is currently happening in Zimbabwe is a coup and an unconstitutional change of government against its people in terms of the African Union (AU) Constitutive Act and we seek the implementation of the remedy provided for in terms of Article 30 \u2014 that it must be applicable and implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi on Tuesday submitted the amendment Bill to Cabinet, setting the amendment in motion amid an outcry from the opposition and civic sector.<\/p>\n

The AU is yet to respond to Sikhala\u2019s petition.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Job Sikhala-led National Democratic Working Group (NDWG) has petitioned the African Union (AU), demanding its intervention to stop Zanu PF from amending the Constitution to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa\u2019s term of office among other controversial proposals. In a petition dated February 11 addressed to African Commission chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":115172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-115174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nSikhala petitions AU over Zanu PF\u2019s constitutional coup - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE Job Sikhala-led National Democratic Working Group (NDWG) has petitioned the African Union (AU), demanding its interv ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sikhala petitions AU over Zanu PF\u2019s constitutional coup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE Job Sikhala-led National Democratic Working Group (NDWG) has petitioned the African Union (AU), demanding its interv ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T21:31:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T23:39:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2026\/02\/sm_1770939548.810764.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Sikhala petitions AU over Zanu PF\u2019s constitutional coup\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-12T21:31:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-12T23:39:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup\"},\"wordCount\":572,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2026\/02\/sm_1770939548.810764.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/sikhala-petitions-au-over-zanu-pfs-constitutional-coup\",\"name\":\"Sikhala petitions AU over Zanu PF\u2019s constitutional coup - 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