PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is facing enormous pressure
from senior Zanu PF officials and the military to reshuffle cabinet and fire
some senior government officials for failing to stem the economic crisis, the
Zimbabwe Independent can report.
He is also under pressure to reshuffle the Office of the
President and Cabinet (OPC) by injecting young blood and people with fresh
ideas, sources said.
Mnangagwa, who swept to power through a military coup in
November 2017 which toppled long-time late leader Robert Mugabe, is struggling
to steady the ship and reverse the economic implosion.
This comes amid growing agitation within the Zanu PF
hierarchy which fears the party could lose the 2023 general election if the
ongoing economic decline persists.
As reported by the Independent last week, senior Zanu PF
officials, who fought in Mnangagwa’s corner in the race to succeed Mugabe, led
by secretary for administration Obert Mpofu, two weeks ago resolved to pile
pressure on Mnangagwa to allow them to superintend over ministers presiding
over critical economic portfolios as they feel that cabinet ministers are
failing to deliver.
Mpofu has been chairing weekly meetings attended by
heavyweights such as Simon Khaya Moyo, Patrick Chinamasa, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi
and Paul Mangwana, who were deployed to work full-time for Zanu PF although
they preferred cabinet posts.
Mnangagwa’s cabinet has served for over one year and
critics say ministers have already proven their ineptitude by failing to turn
around Zimbabwe’s fortunes.
In response, sources said Mnangagwa has been meeting some
of the targeted ministers individually over the past month to enquire about
their plans, including Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, Transport minister Joel
Biggie Matiza, Energy and Power Development minister Fortune Chasi, Home
Affairs minister Cain Mathema and Industry and Commerce minister Mangaliso
Ndlovu.
“Although Mthuli (Ncube) is liked by Mnangagwa, he appears
to be the one targeted the most by Zanu PF officials. They seem to have lost
all faith in him. The army has also been giving out very negative reports about
his economic policies of late. He however enjoys support from the President
himself as of now,” a senior government official said.
“Chasi has also been summoned by the President a few times
to explain his plans, especially in light of these crippling power cuts. He is
also under fire over how he has handled the Zesa board issue. You remember he
dissolved the board as soon as he became minister in May and he is yet to
appoint a new board five months on.”
Matiza has been under pressure to deliver on key projects
that fall under his purview, chiefly the US$400 million National Railways of
Zimbabwe (NRZ) recapitalisation project and the rehabilitation of the
Beitbridge-Chirundu highway.
Instead of implementation, he has revoked the NRZ project
amid self-interest and corruption allegations, coming under immense scrutiny.
The Ministry of Information has been giving Mnangagwa
headaches and might undergo a shake-up as officials, including minister Monica
Mutsvangwa and her deputy Energy Mutodi, who have been engaged in public
squabbles since their appointment while permanent secretary Nick Mangwana is
largely viewed as out of depth.
Mutsvangwa refused to comment on the developments, saying
the appointment and dismissal of ministers or senior government officials was
solely Mnangagwa’s prerogative.
“I don’t know anything like that. In fact, you should not
be asking me about those things because the appointing authority is the
president and only he can know if there is anything like that,” Mutsvangwa
said.
Sources described the developments as a mirror reflection
of the wider Zanu PF factional fights pitting Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino
Chiwenga.
As reported by the Independent last week, a clique of Zanu
PF members is reportedly plotting to unseat Chiwenga on grounds of
incapacitation as part of the intensifying factional fights.
There is also pressure for Mnangagwa to elbow presidential
spokesperson and OPC Deputy Chief Secretary George Charamba out of office.
The situation got worse this week after Charamba posted
what appeared to be a pornographic video on his Twitter account, on which he
uses the @jamwanda handle.
He had also stirred the hornet’s nest by posting on the
same account pictures of Mnangagwa eating boiled cattle hooves, while aboard a
luxurious private jet on his way from attending Uganda’s 54th independence
anniversary last month.
“There is serious jockeying and shadowboxing taking place
in the OPC and in the information department. On one hand there is Mangwana who
is extremely unpopular with officials in that office for employing guerrilla
tactics to run the department.
So he thinks he is being sabotaged by Charamba. Nick came
here and brought changes which have not gone down well with everyone. For
instance, he sends information officers on reporting assignments, something
which was not done before. So the environment there is poisonous,” a senior
government official said.
“So when Charamba made those tweets, they seized the
opportunity to lobby intensely for his sacking. I am sure you noticed that he
at some point disabled the Twitter account before bringing it back up a couple
of days later. That was the time when the situation had deteriorated.
So there were high-level meetings over the issue last week,
some of which involved the chief secretary (to the President and Cabinet
Misheck Sibanda). He got solid backing mainly from the army guys in the OPC and
the case fell apart, but you can bet they will come back again,” the source
said.
Efforts to get comment from Sibanda, Charamba and Mangwana
were fruitless. Zimbabwe Independent
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