Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga yesterday allegedly
snubbed his boss President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s field day held at the latter’s
Pricabe Farm in Sherwood, Kwekwe, as reported power struggles continue to haunt
the running party.
Chiwenga was the guest of honour at the gathering
comprising Cabinet ministers, Zanu PF bigwigs and restive party supporters.
According to a source, Chiwenga snubbed in protest over
Mnangagwa’s alleged weekend meetings at the farm with loyalists to discuss ways
of solidifying his grip on power.
“In January when
Chiwenga made a surprise visit to the farm in the company of only his driver on
a Sunday, he actually came in to check on what happens at the farm, contrary to
State media reports that the visit showed his good relations with ED,” the
source said.
“Today, he snubbed an important event and it is a latest
indication of the power struggles between the two. Why would Chiwenga not come
when he is in the country? With a helicopter, it’s a journey of less than two
hours from Harare.”
However, Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba last
night downplayed the snub. “Well, yes, VP Chiwenga was supposed to come.
But he did not pitch up because he was given another
assignment by President Mnangagwa. Defence minister (Oppah) Muchinguri ended up
being the guest of honour,” he said.
Charamba said Chiwenga’s absence does not equate to bad
blood between the two.
“That he did not come does not show that the two have a
rift. That would be a creation of the media. The truth is that he was given
another assignment, that is the reason why he did not come. How can he snub his
boss? Yourself, can you snub your Editor?” Charamba asked rhetorically.
When Chiwenga returned from China last year where he had
gone for medical treatment, Mnangagwa and senior Zanu PF officials were
conspicuous by their absence at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport,
where he was received by Chinese deputy ambassador Zhao Baogang.
Exiled former Cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo has lately
been claiming that there is a rift between Chiwenga and Mnangagwa, insisting
that the former army commander, who pushed out the late long-time ruler Robert
Mugabe in the November 2017 coup, is planning to stage another palace coup to
remove his boss from power.
In his speech yesterday, Mnangagwa did not talk about
Chiwenga, but focused on government’s efforts to reverse effects of climate
change, promising that in two years, Zimbabwe would be food secure.
He said the country, currently confronted with severe food
shortages, with the World Food Programme estimating that over seven million
people are in need of aid, will be food secure through the promotion of small
holder farmers.
“Two years from now, we should be food secure due to that
scheme,” he said.
Government has been banking on its ambitious scheme,
Command Agriculture, for food security, spending US$2,3 billion from the
fiscus, but corruption and poor rains left the country vulnerable.
Some of the Cabinet ministers who attended the event
include, Mthuli Ncube (Finance), July Moyo (Local Government), Cain Mathema
(Primary and Secondary Education), Owen Ncube (State Security), Monica
Mutsvangwa (Information), Sekai Nzenza (Labour) and Perrance Shiri (Lands),
Larry Mavhima (Midlands Affairs) and Ezra Chadzamira (Masvingo provincial
affairs). Munyaradzi Machacha, the head of the Chitepo School of Ideology and
Zanu PF youth leader, Tendai Chirau, party secretary for legal affairs Paul
Mangwana and Midlands provincial chairperson Daniel Mackenzie Ncube, among
others, were also in attendance. Newsday
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