Zimbabwe has a new public holiday, and it falls on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s birthday.

A government notice gazetted on Wednesday declares that 15 September “every year henceforth” shall be a public holiday known as Munhumutapa Day. NewZimbabwe.com reports the declaration was made through Statutory Instrument 148 of 2026, cited as the Public Holidays and Prohibition of Business (Declaration of Public Holiday) Notice, 2026. ZimLive described it as a special government gazette issued the same day.

The name is drawn from the Munhumutapa, or Mutapa, empire — the Shona state that emerged in the 15th century, controlled gold-producing territory across much of what is now Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and traded with merchants from the Indian Ocean coast before declining in the 18th century.

Mnangagwa turns 84 on the day. NewZimbabwe.com describes the holiday as a Zanu PF initiative, and reports that 15 September has been marked by Zanu PF youths in honour of his presidency since 2018.

The gazette arrived alongside remarks the President made at the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo in Masvingo, where he suggested he would still be in office nine years from now — which would take him to 2035. The two outlets that carried the comment quote it differently. ZimLive has him saying that in nine years, after the event had rotated through other provinces, “I will still be in power”. NewZimbabwe.com quotes him telling the audience: “So when we come back after nine years, having hosted this event in other provinces, you will then give me an update of what you have planned. I will still be around; I do not know about you.” Both report the line drew laughter and applause.

Mnangagwa’s stay has already been extended once. Constitutional Amendment No. 3, signed into law earlier this year, stretched presidential and parliamentary terms from five years to seven and pushed the next national election from 2028 to 2030. He remains barred from a third term under the current constitution.

He came to power in November 2017 after the military intervention that ended Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule.

Sources: ZimLive; NewZimbabwe.com.

Street vendors in Harare have until Wednesday, 9 September, to leave undesignated trading sites under a government directive that has drawn criticism from rights groups, opposition figures and vendor associations, and which the government says is about regulation rather than exclusion.

Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe issued the seven-day notice on 2 September, Pindula News reported. According to NewZimbabwe.com and ZimLive, the ministry described the exercise that follows as a comprehensive, zero-tolerance clean-up, beginning in Harare’s central business district and the wider Harare Metropolitan Province before being extended to other cities and towns. Garwe warned that illegal structures would be dismantled and municipal police deployed to stop traders returning to cleared areas.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) has asked the government to suspend the deadline and open talks with vendor associations, local authorities and civil society, in a statement reported by ZimLive and Pindula. The group said it supported clean and orderly cities, but argued that removing traders without credible alternatives amounted to displacement and punished the poor for the economy’s failure to accommodate them. It said vendors included graduates, retrenched workers and widows, and asked for guarantees that enforcement would not involve violence, arbitrary arrests or the confiscation of goods. “Let us treat the sickness, not stitch the symptom,” the statement said.

Nick Mangwana, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, defended the directive in a post on X on Sunday, reported by Pindula and the Southerton Business Times. He said street trade was a vital source of income but had to be regulated, and that designated vending zones with ablution facilities and waste management offered a practical compromise. Vending on the doorsteps of supermarkets and other formal businesses created unfair competition and obstruction, he said, adding that the goal was not exclusion but sustainable infrastructure for commerce alongside clean, accessible public spaces.

Vendor associations and opposition figures have also pushed back against the order, according to Pindula and NewZimbabwe.com. The clean-up is expected to begin in Harare once the deadline expires on Wednesday.

Sources: ZimLive, NewZimbabwe.com, Pindula News, Southerton Business Times.

Ten senators hand-picked by President Emmerson Mnangagwa under the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act were sworn into Parliament on Tuesday, taking the Senate from 80 to 90 members.

The new senators are businessman and presidential adviser Kudakwashe Tagwirei, Jabulani Sibanda, Mary Mliswa, Nokuthula Matsikenyere, Godwills Masimirembwa, Lucy Chitaga, retired Major-General Gibson Mashingaidze, Makhosini Hlongwane, Brilliant Dube and Irene Mutumbwa, according to NewZimbabwe and Pindula News.

The amendment, signed into law in July, allows the President to appoint ten senators chosen for their “professional skills and other competencies” after consulting the National Assembly. Critics say the list falls short of that test. NewZimbabwe reported that several of the appointees hold senior Zanu-PF positions: Sibanda chairs the party in Bulawayo, Masimirembwa in Harare and Mliswa in Mashonaland West. Opponents have argued that the seats reward loyalty to the party and support for the constitutional changes rather than professional expertise.

Tagwirei, who joined Zanu-PF’s Central Committee last year, campaigned publicly for the amendment and is frequently discussed as a possible successor to Mnangagwa, NewZimbabwe said. Hlongwane, a former minister who largely withdrew from public politics after the 2017 transition that removed Robert Mugabe, returns to active politics through the appointment.

The swearing-in went ahead despite a pending court challenge. As AllInZimbabwe reported last month, applicants have asked the Constitutional Court to void the appointments, arguing that the President packed the upper house with politicians rather than the independent professionals the amended constitution requires.

The Senate appointments are one of several changes now being rolled out under the amendment. Pindula News reported that the government has also appointed and promoted 14 judges under the new provisions on judicial appointments and has started moving certain electoral functions from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to the Registrar-General’s Office.

The amendment has been the focus of sustained opposition, including a call for a national shutdown in July, over provisions that extend presidential and parliamentary terms and expand executive power.

Sources: NewZimbabwe (via allAfrica); Pindula News (via The Zimbabwean); AllInZimbabwe archive.