PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has confirmed that
there is a plot from within the ruling Zanu PF party to unseat him, but dared
his detractors to dream on.
Addressing a Midlands provincial co-ordinating committee
meeting in Gweru on Saturday, Mnangagwa said he was aware that some members
from his faction-torn party were burning the midnight oil plotting to dethrone
him, but warned that their machinations would be crushed as he was firmly in
control of both the ruling party and government.
“Go on and mislead each other. You can even ask your wife
to chant your slogan saying forward with my husband. But when you go out of the
house, you begin to say forward with Zanu PF, forward with central committee of
Zanu PF. Forget about those ambitions,” said Mnangagwa, who rose to power after
toppling his long time boss, the late Robert Mugabe, through a 2017 military
coup.
This came amid reports that a faction within the ruling
party was plotting to replace him with his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga.
Chiwenga has, however, denied harbouring ambitions to
topple his principal. The startling revelations by Mnangagwa came barely a week
after exiled former Cabinet minister
Jonathan Moyo tweeted that some Zanu PF top officials
secretly met in Harare to plot his ouster.
Mnangagwa’s government is facing a lot of challenges that
include a deepening economic and political crisis that has forced South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa to dispatch two sets of African National Congress
envoys to Harare within a month to try to douse the flames.
But Zanu PF has insisted that the country is not in a
crisis.
In his Saturday address, the Zanu PF leader urged party
commissar Victor Matemadanda to publicly chastise party members harbouring
ambitions to take over power from him.
“Commissar, tell people that if you dream being leader of
the country, you have had a nightmare,” Mnangagwa said.
“As soon as you wake up, brew some traditional beer and pay
rites to your ancestors. Tell your ancestors that you have had a bad omen and
ask them why they allow such bad dreams in your life.
“We got this teaching (of not plotting against a sitting
leader) from (the late Zanla commander Josiah Magama Tongagara) Tongo long
back, but we have not forgotten it.
“Zanu PF should never, never shy away from doing that which
is in the interest of the majority. We must never be swayed by individuals who
pursue personal or sectional interests,” he added.
“We must know that the strength of the party is in the
mobilisation of masses. The power of the party is in the people, not in
Mnangagwa, not in the commissar. The power of the chairman is in the people. If
people tell him to go, can he refuse?” Mnangagwa asked rhetorically.
“As a revolutionary party, we should never deviate from our
revolutionary past. The revolution is our DNA … Do not let go your membership
of Zanu PF when it is night then claim it is during daylight.” Newsday
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