HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s loyalists are ready to push through a constitutional amendment to kill off the “running mate” clause which they say gives the vice presidents too much power.

The concept, adopted from the United States of America where a president names a running mate and voters elect them as a package, is due to come into effect in time for the 2023 elections in Zimbabwe.

It is a parked clause with a 10-year delay from the constitution adopted in 2013.

The running mate clause, contained in section 92 of the constitution, provides that in the event of a sitting president’s death, resignation or removal, the first vice president will assume office until the expiry of the former president’s term.

Zanu PF legal secretary Paul Mangwana, who was involved in the drafting of the constitution, said they inserted the clause to “bring about certainty around the issue of succession of a head of state.” Presently, in the event that the president dies or is incapacitated somehow, his or her party must choose a replacement to finish their term.

In the United States, the president cannot fire the vice president, who can only be removed by a vote of the House of Representatives and two-thirds vote in the Senate. If the president really dislikes the vice president badly enough to want to fire him, he can demand that he resign failing which he can name a new running mate for the next election.

Vice presidents almost have no official powers, and carry out tasks as assigned by the president. But Mnangagwa’s supporters fear having strong vice presidents can create many centres of power.

The fear appears that the vice president can actively work to undermine the president to precipitate his or her exit, in the knowledge that they would take-over.

“We need to initiate debate on it; we need to ask ourselves whether we need such a provision,” Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper. “We’re looking at and engaging the public and debating about whether it is necessary. In my opinion, I don’t think it’s necessary. You don’t want to create two centres of power; that is something we need to avoid at all costs.

“Naturally, the head of the executive is the President; what then does it mean when we have three people who are elected by the masses into the executive, who will wield more power?”

Ziyambi is heading a ministerial taskforce which is steering the Constitutional Amendment Bill that will align laws with the constitution.