HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday insisted that be will leave office as planned when his second and final term expires in 2028 as he sought to tamper rising anger over a push by some of his loyalists to amend the constitution to scrap presidential term limits.

Mnangagwa used a meeting with selected editors on Monday to restate that he had no ambitions of either extending his term beyond 2028, or seeking a new term after controversial constitutional amendments.

He said: “I’m very clear that I have two terms, and these terms are very definite, and I am so democratic. When they come to an end, I will step aside and my party will elect my successor. That is as clear as day.

“Those who have other imaginations, it’s a democratic society for people to dream, but facts will carry the day.”

A breakaway group of war veterans have demanded Mnangagwa’s immediate resignation, and some of Mnangagwa’s loyalists opposed to the constitutional amendment have warned that the push for him to stay on now posed a national security threat.

It was Mnangagwa’s office, not the ministry of information, which made a round of calls to editors inviting them to the event at State House.

Information minister Jenfan Muswere and information secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana, two of the biggest agitators for the constitutional amendment, were noticeably absent from the briefing.

“It’s not imaginable that there is anybody in the country who can push me (to seek a term extension). I am very solid. I have always said I am a constitutionalist, I have my two terms when they come to an end, the country and the party will move on by electing my successor,” Mnangagwa said.

He will “persuade the persuaders not to persuade me so that I remain constitutional,” he added.

It was not clear if Mnangagwa’s comments, coming a day after he returned from an African Union summit in Ethiopia, will mollify his critics and quieten rising discontent even within Zanu PF ranks.

His ambitious deputy Constantino Chiwenga has shown increasing impatience, and recently made pointed comments at corrupt businessmen linked to Mnangagwa who have thrived through corruption.

Mnangagwa’s supporters, in response, used an event at the National Heroes Acre to sing songs denouncing the retired general.

Mnangagwa was asked about the disrespect directed at his deputy.

“The foolish and the wise both have their day,” he replied. “I think those who really are Zanu PF at heart go by the rules and decorum of Zanu PF. We have other people who are in Zanu PF, who in themselves are not Zanu PF, but they dress in Zanu PF regalia, so you must always see when people talk and see which camp they belong when they open their mouth.”

Former Zanu PF political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, now a fierce Mnangagwa critic from self exile in South Africa, said the 82-year-old was trying to buy time for his beleaguered presidency.

He compared Mnangagwa’s news conference to his predecessor Robert Mugabe’s “Asante Sana” moment, hours before the military ousted him in a coup in 2017.

“He’s buying some breathing space. A revolution is not staged in instalments. He knows the right thing to do. Step down,” Kasukuwere wrote on X.