Zimbabwe names President Mnangagwa's birthday national public holiday

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa. [TRT Africa]

Zimbabwe has declared September 15, President Emmerson Mnangagwa's birthday, an annual national public holiday, weeks after he signed a law extending his own term in office.

The holiday, named Munhumutapa Day, was introduced through Statutory Instrument 148 of 2026, according to state broadcaster ZBC News.

The notice cites section 2(2) of the Public Holidays and Prohibition of Business Act.

"It is hereby declared that the 15th of September every year henceforth shall be a public holiday to be known as Munhumutapa Day," the notice reads.

Mnangagwa turns 84 on the same day the government has set aside to mark what it calls the country's "pre-colonial heritage."

The state did not explain why it picked September 15 for the celebration.

The name honours the Munhumutapa title held by rulers of the Mutapa Empire, a Shona kingdom that stretched across parts of present-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique from the 14th to the 17th centuries.

Hours after the declaration, Mnangagwa signalled he intends to remain in power well beyond 2030, even though his current term is due to expire in about four years.

"I will still be around; I do not know about you," he said.

In July, Mnangagwa signed into law a constitutional amendment that stretched presidential terms from five to seven years and pushed the next election from 2028 to 2030.

He had previously called himself a constitutionalist and promised to respect term limits.

The amendment also scrapped direct presidential elections. Voters will instead elect members of Parliament, who will then choose the president.

Mnangagwa bypassed calls for a public referendum on the changes, arguing they would bring stability to the southern African nation.

Critics say the new system will deepen the grip of his ZANU-PF party, which has governed Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.

Mnangagwa took power in 2017 after the military helped remove long-time leader Robert Mugabe. He went on to win disputed elections in 2018 and 2023.