THE stage is set for a bruising turf war between Zanu PF
leader Emmerson Mnangagwa (pictured) and his ambitious deputy Constantino
Chiwenga at the ruling party’s annual conference to be held in Esigodini,
Matabeleland South province, next month, as their rival camps sharpen daggers
ahead of the high-stakes showdown.
Mnangagwa and Chiwenga are locked in a battle to control
the party and the state, a year after the two protagonists joined forces to
topple former president Robert Mugabe.
In recent years, the Zanu PF annual conferences became
platforms for factional fights among party leaders.
Despite their public posturing meant to paint a picture of
unity and harmony, Mnangagwa and Chiwenga have been fighting each other behind
the scenes, including through proxies.
One of the manifestations of that has been the ongoing
battle to control the state media platforms, critical platforms for the control
of the narrative and information dissemination.
A tug of war has erupted between Information Minister
Monica Mutsvangwa as well as permanent secretary Nick Mangwana, on one hand,
and deputy minister Energy Mutodi on the other, over the removal of current
Zimpapers editors and appointment of new ones.
The ongoing clashes are fuelled by personal, policy and
political differences among the players involved. The fight between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga is also playing
out among war veterans amid an attempt to boot Mutsvangwa out the association.
Mutsvangwa is in Mnangagwa’s faction.
According to senior Zanu PF officials who spoke to the
Zimbabwe Independent this week, the Esigodini conference is likely to be an
explosive affair, especially in light of recent thinly veiled verbal exchanges
between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.
Chiwenga, who was the face of the military coup which
ousted former president Robert Mugabe last year, harbours presidential
ambitions and wants Mnangagwa to relinquish the post in 2023 to pave way for
his ascendancy.
Mnangagwa has, however, moved to consolidate his power base
by, among other actions, removing Chiwenga from the Defence ministry and his
backers from government, leaving him exposed and vulnerable.
Chiwenga’s allies are particularly peeved by Mnangagwa’s
backers who recently launched a new slogan “#ED2023 pfee”, which is a clear
indication that they want him to run for another term. The slogan was launched
at a Zanu PF Youth League conference held in Harare late last month.
“This has caused great friction in the party and
considering that plenary discussions at the congress will debate issues around
the state of the party, it could really be interesting because the other side
is not taking it lying down,” one source said.
Party insiders also said Chiwenga’s supporters were getting
increasingly concerned that Mnangagwa was moving to limit Chiwenga’s influence
in Zanu PF and the government.
“In the first place, Mnangagwa realised that he was brought
into power at the back of the coup which Chiwenga led and he therefore owed him
some respect that is why he gave him too much room to exercise authority in the
period before elections. But since then, things have drastically changed for
him,” an official said.
“Also in respect of that, there appeared to have been a
solid understanding between the two when they ganged up against Mugabe but it
is turning out that what bound them then was a common adversary in the form of
the former president and his wife. You will remember that from 2015, Mugabe had
started to criticise the army generals, warning them that they should stop
interfering in political activities.
“He clearly pronounced this at the Victoria Falls
conference in December of that year. It was well-known and thus it is now clear
that Chiwenga had his own ambitions as much as Mnangagwa had his own. They came
together because they had a common agenda to remove Mugabe.
“When it came to the actual removal, Chiwenga played a key
role as he controlled the instruments of state coercion. He could however not
take the presidency himself because there was a need to bring in a civilian
face for legitimacy purposes and that’s where Mnangagwa was useful,” the source
said.
Chiwenga made his mind publicly known during a meeting with
senior party members at his home in Hwedza where he subtly warned he would not
allow people to personalise the party and the state, warning that doing so was
very dangerous.
Mnangagwa took advantage of officiating at the Zanu PF
youth conference to, also subtly, hit back saying he knew of some leaders who
were gathering people around and saying things that are not acceptable. He
warned the party would not hesitate to discipline or expel such people.
However, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo denied rifts
in the party.
“That is wishful thinking,” he said. “Preparations for the
conference are going on very well and we will be having the mother of all
conferences. Anyone anticipating drama will be disappointed.” Zimbabwe
Independent
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