8th Parliament of Zimbabwe

8th Parliament of Zimbabwe
← 7th Parliament 9th Parliament →
Parliament House, Harare
Overview
Legislative body	Parliament of Zimbabwe
Jurisdiction	Zimbabwe
Meeting place	Parliament House, Harare
Term	22 August 2013 (2013-08-22)[a] – 29 July 2018 (2018-07-29)
Election	2013 Zimbabwean general election
Government	Eighth Mugabe Cabinet First Mnangagwa Cabinet
Website	parlzim.gov.zw
National Assembly
Members	270
Speaker	Jacob Mudenda
Deputy Speaker	Mabel Chinomona
Clerk	Austin Zvoma Kennedy Mugove Chokuda
Party control	ZANU-PF
Senate
Members	80
President	Edna Madzongwe
Deputy President	Chen Chimutengwende
Clerk	Austin Zvoma Kennedy Mugove Chokuda
Party control	None (de jure) ZANU-PF (de facto)[b]
Sessions
1st 17 September 2013 – 30 September 2014 2nd 28 October 2014 – 25 August 2015 3rd 15 September 2015 – 4 October 2016 4th 6 October 2016 – 3 August 2017 5th 12 September 2017 – 29 July 2018

In Zimbabwe's 2013 general election, 210 members of the National Assembly were elected to the National Assembly – one for each parliamentary constituency. The Constitution of Zimbabwe provided for a further 60 female members, representing a women's quota, chosen by proportional representation based on the constituency votes. This was the first Parliament to be elected and sit under the new Constitution of Zimbabwe.

As part of the election, a new Senate was also elected. 60 members - six for each of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces - were elected by proportional representation, 16 traditional Chiefs were elected by the Council of Chiefs, while the President and Deputy President of the Council of Chiefs are automatically Senators. The final two seats in the Senate are made up of representatives of persons with disabilities, chosen by the National Disability Board.

The Zimbabwean Parliament comprises the elected National Assembly, the Senate and the President of Zimbabwe. The list of new parliamentarians was published in an Extraordinary edition of the Zimbabwe Government Gazette on 9 August 2013.

The 8th Parliament of Zimbabwe's membership was set by the 31 July 2013 election, which gave the incumbent ruling party, ZANU–PF, a parliamentary majority, with control of both the Senate and the National Assembly. One Independent candidate was elected, and the MDC-T won the remaining constituency seats in the National Assembly. The breakaway MDC party, led by Welshman Ncube, won 2 seats each in the Senate and Proportional Representation Women's Quota.

Per Section 143 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the 8th Parliament officially began the day the president-elect is sworn in. Per Section 145 (1) of the Constitution, the president advises as to the date of the official opening of Parliament, and Section 145 (2) stipulates that the date will be officially set by the Clerk of Parliament. The official opening of Parliament must not be held more than 30 days after the presidential inauguration.

The 8th Parliament was rocked by political in-fighting between the various factions of the MDC. Members were recalled at various points and replaced by rival MDC candidates (see below for more detail). There was also in-fighting within ZANU-PF, with members allied to Vice-President Joice Mujuru being recalled.

The 2013 Constitution required comprehensive amendment of the Electoral Act to accommodate the new PR systems for women's seats in the Assembly and elected senators. The existing Act lacked mechanisms for filling vacancies in party-list positions. The Electoral Amendment Act (No. 6 of 2014) was only gazetted in late 2014, creating a legal lacuna that prevented replacement of deceased or resigned party-list senators for over a year. Vacancies arising shortly after the 2013 elections thus remained unfilled until August 2014, when ZANU–PF submitted names to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission under the new procedures.[1][2]

The Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai suffered a debilitating schism in 2014 when senior members, including secretary-general Tendai Biti and deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma, challenged Morgan Tsvangirai's leadership after the 2013 electoral defeat. Suspensions and counter-suspensions followed, culminating in the formation of the MDC Renewal Team (later United Movement for Democratic Change under Biti and Welshman Ncube).

In early 2015, Tsvangirai's faction invoked section 129(1)(k) of the Constitution – which terminates a seat if a member ceases to belong to the sponsoring party – to recall 21 MPs perceived as aligned with the breakaway group. Speaker Jacob Mudenda declared the seats vacant in March 2015. By-elections held in June 2015 were boycotted by MDC–T, resulting in ZANU–PF sweeping 16 seats uncontested or with minimal opposition, further entrenching its two-thirds majority.[3][4]

Intense succession battles within ZANU–PF erupted after the 2013 victory. Former Vice-President Joice Mujuru and allies were accused of plotting to assassinate or overthrow Mugabe, charges rooted in the rivalry between the "Gamatox" faction (associated with Mujuru) and the emerging "Lacoste" group backing Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mujuru was expelled from the party in December 2014 and dismissed as Vice-President.

Several Mujuru-aligned MPs and ministers faced expulsion threats, but ZANU–PF largely avoided mass recalls to prevent costly by-elections in potentially vulnerable rural seats and to conserve finances. Instead, suspensions of varying lengths were imposed on many, while outright expulsions were limited. Three MPs – Kudakwashe Bhasikiti (Mwenezi East), Ray Kaukonde (Marondera Central), and David Butau (Mbire) – were expelled and their seats declared vacant in 2015.[5][6]

In 2017, Parliament passed the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 1) Bill, removing public interviews for the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, and Judge President of the High Court, allowing presidential appointment after mere consultation with the Judicial Service Commission. The bill sparked controversy over judicial independence. Debate in the Senate centred on whether a two-thirds majority had been achieved amid vacant seats; opponents argued the threshold should be calculated on total membership (80), not present members. The government insisted on voting members. The bill passed and was assented to by Mugabe on 7 September 2017, though later challenged (the Constitutional Court in 2020 declared the original Senate passage invalid but suspended invalidity to allow re-passage).[7][8]

The dismissal of Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa on 6 November 2017 – seen as clearing the path for First Lady Grace Mugabe – triggered the military intervention of 14–21 November 2017. Described by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces as an operation to target "criminals" around Mugabe rather than a coup, armoured vehicles entered Harare, state media was seized, and Mugabe was confined to house arrest.[9]

On 19 November, ZANU–PF's Central Committee removed Mugabe as party leader, replacing him with Mnangagwa, and set a resignation ultimatum. When Mugabe defied it in a televised address, Parliament convened a rare joint sitting on 21 November at the Harare International Conference Centre (the Parliament chamber being too small). The motion for impeachment under section 97 of the Constitution – charging Mugabe with serious misconduct, failure to uphold the Constitution, and loss of public confidence – was moved by ZANU–PF Senator Monica Mutsvangwa and seconded by MDC–T MP James Maridadi, symbolising cross-party unity.

As the impeachment committee began work, Speaker Mudenda announced Mugabe's resignation letter, effective immediately. Jubilant scenes erupted in the chamber and streets. Mnangagwa was sworn in as President on 24 November 2017, pledging a "new unfolding democracy".[10][11]

The National Assembly was made up of 270 members, as well as the presiding officer, known as the Speaker, who is elected at the Assembly's first sitting. A Member of the National Assembly who is elected as Speaker ceases to be a Member of the National Assembly, and the vacant seat must be filled in accordance with the Electoral Law.

Members
		Elected in July 2013			At dissolution in July 2018
Constituency Maps
Assembly composition
Party		Common	Women	Total	Common	Women	Total	Change
	ZANU–PF	160	37	197	159	35	194	3
	MDC–T	49	21	70	34	21	55	15
	MDC–N	0	2	2	0	2	2
	Independent	1	0	1	1	0	1
Total		210	60	270	194	58	252	18
	Vacant	0	0	0	16	2	18	18
	Speaker	1			1
Government majority		124			136			12

210 members of the National Assembly were elected by secret ballot from the 210 constituencies into which Zimbabwe is divided.[12] The following members were gazetted as having won seats during the General Election in July 2013.

An additional 60 women members, six from each of the provinces into which Zimbabwe is divided, were elected under a party-list system of proportional representation which is based on the votes cast for candidates representing political parties in each of the provinces in the general election for constituency members in the provinces.[13]

The Senate is made up of 80 members, as well as the presiding officer, known as the President of the Senate, who is elected at the Senate's first sitting. A Senator who is elected as President of the Senate ceases to be a Senator, and the vacant seat must be filled in accordance with the Electoral Law.

Senate composition
Affiliation		Elected in 2013	At dissolution in 2018	Change
	ZANU–PF	37	37
	MDC–T	21	20	1
	MDC–N	2	2
	Chiefs	18	18
	Persons with disabilities	2	2
Total		80	79	1
	Vacant	0	1	1
	President of the Senate	1	1

There are 60 provincial seats in the Senate. Six are elected from each of the provinces into which Zimbabwe is divided, under a party-list system of proportional representation which is based on the votes cast for candidates representing political parties in each of the provinces in the general election for Members of the National Assembly. Male and female candidates are listed alternately, with every list being headed by a female candidate.[14]

Chapter 6, Part 3, §120(b) and (c) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe reserves 16 seats in the Senate for Chiefs, of whom two are elected by the provincial assembly of Chiefs from each of the provinces, other than the metropolitan provinces, and two for the President and Deputy President of the National Council of Chiefs.[15][16]

Chapter 6, Part 3, §120(d) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe reserves two seats in the Senate for representatives of persons with disabilities.[17] In terms of paragraph 3(3)(b) of the Seventh Schedule to the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13], one must be male, the other must be female. These Senators are elected by the National Disability Board.[18]