PART 1
The President

27: The President

1. There shall be a President who shall be Head of State and Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces.
2. The President shall take precedence over all other persons in Zimbabwe.

28: Qualifications and election of President

1. A person shall be qualified for election as President if--
   1. he is a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth or by descent; and
   2. he has attained the age of forty years; and
   3. he is ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe.
2. The President shall be elected by voters registered on the common roll.
   [Subsection as amended by section 2 of Act 15 of 1990]
3. An election to the office of President shall take place within ninety days--
   1. before the term of office of the President expires in terms of section 29; or
   2. after the office of President becomes vacant by reason of his death or his resignation or removal from office in terms of this Constitution;
      as the case may be.
4. The procedure for the nomination of candidates for election in terms of subsection (2) and the election of the President shall be as prescribed in the Electoral Law.
   [Subsection as amended by section 2 of Act 15 of 1990]
5. A person elected as President shall assume office--
   1. where he has been elected in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (3), on the expiry of the term of office of the previous President;
   2. where he has been elected in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (3), on the day upon which he is declared to be elected.
      [Subsection as amended by section 2 of Act 15 of 1990]
6. Before entering upon his office, a person elected as President shall take and subscribe before the Chief Justice or other judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court the oaths of loyalty and office in the forms set out in Schedule 1.
   

29: Tenure of office of President

1. The term of office of the President shall be a period of six years:
   Provided that--
   1. the President shall continue in office until the person elected as President at the next election of President assumes office;
   2. (ii)
      [Paragraph repealed by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
2. The President may resign his office by lodging his resignation in writing with the Speaker.
   [Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
3. The President shall cease to hold office if a report prepared by a committee of Parliament, appointed by the Speaker upon the request of not fewer than one-third of the members of Parliament, has recommended the removal of the President on the ground--
   1. that he has acted in wilful violation of this Constitution; or
   2. that he is incapable of performing the functions of his office by reason of physical or mental incapacity; or
   3. of gross misconduct;
      and the members of Parliament have resolved by the affirmative votes of not less than two-thirds of their total affirmative votes of not less than two-thirds of their total number that the President should be removed from office.
      [Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
      

30: Presidential immunity

1. The President shall not, while in office, be personally liable to any civil or criminal proceedings whatsoever in any court.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (1), it shall be lawful to institute civil or criminal proceedings against a person after he has ceased to be President, in respect of--
   1. things done or omitted to be done by him before he became President; or
   2. things done or omitted to be done by him in his personal capacity during his term of office as President;
      and, notwithstanding any provision contained in any law relating to prescription or to the limitation of actions, the running of prescription in relation to any debt or liability of the President, whether incurred or accrued before or during his term of office, shall be suspended during his term of office as President.
      

31: Acting President

1. Whenever the office of President is vacant or the President is absent from Zimbabwe or is unable to perform the functions of his office by reason of illness or any other cause, his functions shall be assumed and performed--
   1. where there is only one Vice-President, by that Vice-President; or
   2. where there are two Vice-Presidents--
      • by the Vice-President whom the President has designated for such an eventuality; or
      • by the Vice-President who last acted as President in terms of this section, where neither Vice-President has been designated for such an eventuality in terms of subparagraph (i); or
   3. during the absence or incapacity of the Vice-President or of both Vice-Presidents, as the case may be, by such Minister as may be designated for such an eventuality--
      • by the President; or
      • by the Cabinet, where no Minister has been designated by the President in terms of subparagraph (i).
        [Subsection as substituted by section 3 of Act 15 of 1990]
2. Except in accordance with a resolution passed by a majority of the whole membership of the Cabinet, a person performing the functions of the office of President in terms of subsection (1) shall not exercise the power of the President-
   1. to declare war or to make peace; or
   2. to enter into any international convention, treaty or agreement; or
   3. subject to the provisions of section 51, to dissolve or prorogue Parliament; or
   4. to appoint or revoke the appointment of a Vice-President, Minister or Deputy Minister; or
      [Paragraph as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
   5. to assign or reassign functions to a Vice-President, Minister or Deputy Minister, including the administration of any Act of Parliament or of any Ministry of department, or to cancel any such assignment of functions.
      [Paragraph as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
      

31A: Remuneration of President

1. There shall be charged upon and paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the President and any Acting President such salary, allowances, pension and other benefits as may from time to time be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.
2. The salary, allowances and other benefits payable to the President or an Acting President shall not be reduced during the period he holds the office of President.

31B: President and former Presidents not to hold other offices

1. While he continues in office as President, the President shall not directly or indirectly hold any other public office or any paid office in the employment of any person.
2. After ceasing to be President, a person shall not directly or indirectly hold any public office or any paid office in the employment of any person while he is receiving a pension from the State in respect of his former office of President.

PART 2
Vice-Presidents, Ministers and Cabinet
31C: Vice-Presidents

1. There shall be not more than two Vice-Presidents of Zimbabwe, who shall be appointed by the President.[Subsection as substituted by section 4 of Act 15 of 1990]
2. The Vice-President or Vice-Presidents, as the case may be, shall assist the President in the discharge of his executive functions, and shall perform such other functions, including the administration of any Act of Parliament or of any Ministry or department, as the President may assign to him or them, as the case may be.
   [Subsection as substituted by section 4 of Act 15 of 1990]
3. A Vice-President shall, before entering upon his office, take and subscribe before the President or some other person authorized by the President in that behalf the oaths of loyalty and office in the forms set out in Schedule 1.
   [Subsection as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
4. During his tenure of office, a Vice-President shall not directly or indirectly hold any other public office or any paid office in the employment of any person.
   [Subsection as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
5. Whenever a Vice-President is absent from Zimbabwe, or is unable to perform the functions of his office by reason of illness or any other cause, the President may appoint a Minister to assume and perform those functions, and any Minister so appointed may discharge those functions accordingly.
   [Subsection as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
6. A Minister appointed in terms of subsection (5) shall cease to perform the functions of the office of Vice-President--
   1. if the appointment is revoked by the President; or
   2. if he ceases to hold the office of Minister; or
   3. upon the assumption of office of a new President.
      

31D: Ministers and Deputy Ministers

1. The President--
   1. shall appoint Ministers and may assign functions to such Ministers, including the administration of any Act of Parliament or of any Ministry or department; and
   2. may appoint Deputy Ministers of any Ministry or department or of such other description as the President may determine, and may authorize any Deputy Minister to exercise or perform on behalf of a Minister any of the functions entrusted to such Minister.
2. Any person appointed under this section shall, before entering upon his office, take and subscribe before the President or some other person authorized by the President in that behalf the oaths of loyalty and office in the forms set out in Schedule 1.
3. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and any Act of Parliament, where any Minister has been charged with responsibility for any Ministry or department he shall exercise general direction and control over that Ministry or department and, subject to such direction and control, any such Ministry shall be under the supervision of a Secretary.
4. During his tenure of office, no Minister or Deputy Minister shall directly or indirectly hold any other public office of any paid office in the employment of any person.
   

31E: Tenure of office of Vice-Presidents, Ministers and Deputy Ministers

1. The office of a Vice-President, Minister or Deputy Minister shall become vacant--
   1. if the President removes him from office; or
   2. if he resigns his office by notice in writing addressed and delivered to the President; or
   3. upon the assumption of office of a new President
      [Subsection as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
2. No person shall hold office as Vice-President, Minister or Deputy Minister for longer than three months unless he is a member of Parliament:
   Provided that if during that period Parliament is dissolved, he may continue to hold such office without being a member of Parliament until Parliament first meets after the dissolution.
   [Subsection as substituted by section 2 of Act 31 of 1989]
3. A person who has held office as Vice-President, Minister or Deputy Minister without also being a member of Parliament shall not be eligible for reappointment to that office before Parliament is next dissolved unless in the meantime he has become a member of Parliament.
   [Subsection as substituted by section 2 of Act 31 of 1989]
   

31F: Vote of no confidence in Government

1. Parliament may, by resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all its members, pass a vote of no confidence in the Government.
   [Subsection as substituted by section 3 of Act 31 of 1989]
2. A motion for the resolution referred to in subsection (1) shall not be moved in Parliament unless--
   1. not less than seven days' notice of the motion has been given to the Speaker; and
   2. the notice of the motion has been signed by not less than one-third of all the members of Parliament;
   3. and shall be debated in Parliament within twenty-one days after the receipt by the Speaker of the notice of the motion.
      [Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
3. Where a vote of no confidence in the Government is passed by Parliament in terms of this section, the President shall within fourteen days do one of the following--
   1. dissolve Parliament; or
   2. remove every Vice-President, Minister and Deputy Minister from his office unless he has earlier resigned in consequence of the resolution; or
   3. himself resign his office.
      [Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989 and by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
      

31G: Cabinet

1. There shall be a Cabinet consisting, subject to the provisions of section 76 (3b), of the President, the Vice-President or Vice-Presidents, as the case may be, and such Ministers as the President may from time to time appoint.
   [Subsection as amended by section 4 of Act 4 of 1989 and by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
2. A Minister who is a member of the Cabinet shall hold office as a member of the Cabinet during the pleasure of the President:
   Provided that--
   1. he shall cease to hold office as a member of the Cabinet if he ceases to be a Minister;
   2. he may at any time, by notice in writing addressed and delivered to the President, resign his office as a member of the Cabinet.
3. Every Minister who becomes a member of the Cabinet shall, before entering upon his office, take and subscribe before the President or some other persons authorised by the President in that behalf, the oath of a member of the Cabinet in the form set out in Schedule 1.
   [Subsection as amended by section 4 of Act 4 of 1989]
   

PART 3 Executive Functions
31H: Executive functions of President

1. The executive authority of Zimbabwe shall vest in the President and, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, may be exercised by him directly or through the Cabinet, a Vice-President, a Minister or a Deputy Minister.
   [Subsection as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
2. It shall be the duty of the President to uphold this Constitution and ensure that the provisions of this Constitution and of all other laws in force in Zimbabwe are faithfully executed.
3. The President shall have such powers as are conferred upon him by this Constitution or by or under any Act of Parliament or other law or convention and, subject to any provision made by Parliament, shall, as Head of State, in addition have such prerogative powers as were exercisable before the appointed day.
4. Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3), the President shall have power, subject to the provisions of this Constitution--
   1. to appoint, accredit, receive and recognize diplomatic agents and consular officers; and
   2. to enter into international conventions, treaties and agreements; and
   3. to proclaim and to terminate martial law; and
   4. to declare war and to make peace; and
   5. to confer honours and precedence.
5. In the exercise of his functions the President shall act on the advice of the Cabinet, except in cases where he is required by this Constitution or any other law to act on the advice of any other person or authority:
   Provided that the President shall not be obliged to act on the advice of the Cabinet with respect to--
   1. the dissolution or prorogation of Parliament; or
   2. the appointment or removal of a Vice-President or any Minister or Deputy Minister; or
      [Paragraph as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
      

b1. subject to the provisions of an Act of Parliament such as is referred to in section 111A, the appointment or removal of a Provincial Governor in terms of such Act; or
[Paragraph as inserted by section 5 of Act 4 of 1989 and as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
c. the assignment or reassignment of functions to a Vice-President or any Minister or Deputy Minister or with respect to the cancellation of any such assignment or reassignment of functions; or
[Paragraph as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
c1. the designation of a Vice-President or Minister in terms of section 31 (1); or
[Paragraph as amended by section 5 of Act 15 of 1990]
c2. the appointment of members of Parliament in terms of section 38 (1)(d); or
[Paragraph as inserted by section 5 of Act 15 of 1990]
d. the appointment of any person to an office or post in terms of this Constitution or any other law, or the removal of any person from such an office or post, where the President is required by this Constitution or by the law concerned, as the case may be, to consult any other person or authority before making the appointment or effecting the removal.
6. Nothing in this section shall prevent Parliament from conferring or imposing functions on persons or authorities other than the President.
31I: Prerogative of mercy
1. The President may, subject to such lawful conditions as he may think fit to impose--
a. grant a pardon to any person concerned in or convicted of a criminal offence against any law; or
b. grant a respite, either indefinite or for a specified period, from the execution of any sentence for such an offence; or
c. substitute a less severe punishment for that imposed by any sentence for such an offence; or
d. suspend for a specified period or remit the whole or part of any sentence for such an offence or any penalty of forfeiture otherwise imposed on account of such an offence.
2. Where a person resident in Zimbabwe has been convicted in another country of a criminal offence against a law in force in that country, the President may declare that that conviction shall not be regarded as a conviction for the purposes of this Constitution or any other law in force in Zimbabwe.
31J: Public emergencies
1. The President may at any time, by proclamation in the Gazette, declare in relation to the whole of Zimbabwe or any part thereof that--
a. a state of public emergency exists; or
b. a situation exists which, if allowed to continue, may lead to a state of public emergency.
2. A declaration under subsection (1), if not sooner revoked, shall cease to have effect at the expiration of a period of fourteen days beginning with the day of publication of the proclamation in the Gazette unless, before the expiration of that period, the declaration is approved by resolution of Parliament:
Provided that, if Parliament is dissolved during the period of fourteen days, the declaration, unless sooner revoked, shall cease to have effect at the expiration of a period of thirty days beginning with the day of publication of the proclamation of that period, the declaration is approved by resolution of Parliament.
[Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
3. Where a declaration under subsection (1)--
a. is not approved by resolution under subsection (2), the President shall forthwith, after Parliament has considered the resolution and failed to approve it or, if Parliament has not considered the resolution, on the expiration of the appropriate period specified in subsection (2), by proclamation in the Gazette, revoke the declaration;
b. is approved by resolution under subsection (2), the declaration shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (4), continue in effect for a period of six months beginning with the day of publication of the proclamation in the Gazette:
Provided that, where Parliament has in the resolution under subsection (2) specified that the declaration shall continue in effect for a period of less than six months, the President shall, by proclamation in the Gazette, make provision that the declaration shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (4), be revoked on the expiration of the period so specified.
[Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
4. If Parliament resolves that it considers it expedient that a declaration under subsection (1) should be continued for a further period not exceeding six months, the President shall forthwith, by proclamation in the Gazette, extend the declaration for such further period as may be so resolved.
[Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, Parliament may at any time--
a. resolve that a declaration under subsection (1) should be revoked; or
b. whether in passing a resolution under subsection (2) or (4) or subsequently, resolve that a declaration under subsection (1) should relate to such lesser area as Parliament may specify;
and the President shall forthwith, by proclamation in the Gazette, revoke the declaration or provide that the declaration shall relate to such lesser area, as the case may be.
[Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
6. Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (1) to (5), Parliament may at any time resolve in relation to the whole of Zimbabwe or any part thereof that a situation exists which--
a. if allowed to continue, may lead to a state of public emergency; and
b. may require the preventive detention of persons in the interests of defence, public safety or public order.
[Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
7. A resolution under subsection (6) shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (8) and unless Parliament has specified that it shall have effect for a period of less than one year, have effect for a period of one year beginning with the day it is passed.
[Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 1989]
8. Parliament may continue a resolution under subsection (6) for a further period, not exceeding one year.
[Subsection as amended by section 9 of Act 15 of 1990]
9. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, Parliament may at any time resolve--
a. that a resolution under subsection (6) shall cease to have effect; or
b. that a resolution under subsection (6) shall relate to such lesser area as Parliament may specify.
c. [Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
10. A declaration under subsection (1) or a resolution under subsection (6) may be continued in accordance with this section notwithstanding that it has previously been continued.
11. No resolution under subsection (2), (4), (6) or (8) shall be deemed to have been duly passed unless it receives the affirmative votes of more then one-half of the total membership of Parliament.
[Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
12. Where Parliament passes a resolution under subsection (6), (8) or (9), the Secretary to Parliament shall forthwith cause to be published in the Gazette a notice of such resolution and the effect thereof.
[Subsection as amended by section 26 of Act 31 of 1989]
[Subsection repealed by section 4 of Act 4 of 1993]
31K: Extent to which exercise of President's functions justiciable
1. Where the President is required or permitted by this Constitution or any other law to act on his own deliberate judgment, a court shall not, in any case, inquire into any of the following questions or matters--
a. whether any advice or recommendation was tendered to the President or acted on by him; or
b. whether any consultation took place in connection with the performance of the act; or
c. the nature of any advice or recommendation tendered to the President; or
d. the manner in which the President has exercised his discretion.
2. Where the President is required or permitted by this Constitution or any other law to act on the advice or recommendation of or after consultation with any person or authority, a court shall not, in any case, inquire into either of the following questions or matters--
a. the nature of any advice or recommendation tendered to the President; or
b. the manner in which the President has exercised his discretion.
[Chapter as substituted by section 2 of Act 23 of 1987]