By Nigel Pfunde
Bikita South Member of Parliament, Dr. Energy Mutodi recently graduated with a Master of Laws in Constitutional Law from the University of Zimbabwe. He has also been recognised as a laureate of the Africa Hall of Fame for his contribution to constitutional discourse.
Following a ZANU PF Annual Conference resolution in Bulawayo in December 2024 that called for extending the presidential term limit beyond 2028, Mutodi stated in a ZBC televised interview that a draft motion to amend the Constitution was authentic. He subsequently prepared the initial draft of the constitutional amendment bill and submitted it to the Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, as a notice of motion.
The proposed amendment sought to allow the President and Members of Parliament to continue in office until 2030, “or for a period deemed appropriate by Parliament.”
The process was later taken up by Cabinet and spearheaded by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, and the Attorney-General, Virginia Mabhiza.
Mutodi’s political career began at district level in ZANU PF structures in Goromonzi in 2006. He rose to become ZANU PF Member of Parliament for Goromonzi West in 2018, and served as Deputy Legal Secretary in the Mashonaland East Provincial Executive. He is now associated with Bikita South Constituency in Masvingo Province.
He served as Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services from 2018 to 2020. In October 2025, he was also removed as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion.
Mutodi is often described as an outspoken figure within ZANU PF. Between 2014 and 2015 he publicly backed President Emmerson Mnangagwa during the party’s succession debates. This included a viral 2017 photograph with the then Vice President holding a mug inscribed “I AM THE BOSS.”
Edson Zvobgo on the other hand was a prominent legal mind and Harvard scholar who was also consequential to the constitution and structure of power in Zimbabwe. Edson Zvobgo created the office of the President as we know it today and he was instrumental in the Presidential Powers Act.
Zvobgo had multiple qualifications which include
Bachelor’s degree (BA)
* Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of London
* Bar examinations, qualifying him for legal practice
* Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD), Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
* Master of Laws (LLM), Harvard Law School
Dr. Mutodi holds more qualifications than Edson Zvobgo and Robert Mugabe making him the most educated politician in ZANU PF.
• PhD in Business Administration – University of Cape Town, 2019
• MA in Global Conflict & Cooperation – University of Birmingham, 2022-2023
• MBA – University of Zimbabwe
• LLB Honours – University of Zimbabwe. Admitted as a Legal Practitioner, Conveyancer and Notary Public by the High Court of Zimbabwe
• BA in War Studies and Geography – University of Zimbabwe
• Master of Laws in Constitutional Law – University of Zimbabwe (recent graduate)
His LLM thesis, “*The Role of the Parliament of Zimbabwe in Advancing Constitutional and Electoral Reform for Political Stability: A Post-2013 Analysis”,* examined Zimbabwe’s constitutional reforms and their impact on the political system.
Beyond academia, Mutodi is an author of Geography textbooks used in Zimbabwean schools, a businessman, and a musician with more than ten albums since 2012.
Commentators describe Mutodi as a “man of many hats” – academic, lawyer, politician, musician and author – known for his versatility across law, governance, business and the arts.
