Mnangagwa declares birthday holiday, hints at 2035 rule

President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared his birthday, September 15, an annual public holiday dubbed Munhumutapa Day via Statutory Instrument 148. He also jokingly suggested he expects to remain president beyond 2035, a remark widely interpreted as a serious ambition. Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa slammed the moves as "drunk with power," accusing Mnangagwa of entrenching authoritarian rule and ignoring the constitution, and described the holiday as a self-serving distraction from Zimbabwe's economic collapse.