
According to insiders, a faction linked to the military,
with Chiwenga alleged to be its godfather in Zanu PF’s civilian structures, was
now running the show in the ruling party, much to the discomfort of the
president’s backers.
Zanu PF sources said the unexpected disbanding of the
structures in Harare and Bulawayo under the guise of dealing with the party’s
poor performance in last year’s elections and low attendances at events such as
the burial of national heroes, was the manifestation of a power struggle
between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.
They said Mnangagwa had also moved to checkmate Chiwenga by
appointing his close ally Oliver Chidawu as Harare Provincial Affairs minister.
Provincial Affairs ministers mainly act as the president’s listening posts on
political issues.
“There have been allegations that the party’s provincial
executive in Harare was controlled by soldiers, through retired Major General
Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe,” said a senior Zanu PF official in Harare.
“Chiwenga will lead the restructuring of the Harare
structures and the appointment of Oliver Chidawu as Provincial Affairs minister
is to whittle his influence.
“The military side had too much control in Harare and that
is why President Mnangagwa had to dissolve it. Bulawayo was just collateral
damage.”
Sanyatwe, a close ally of Chiwenga, the former army boss —
might be posted to Tanzania in an ambassadorial role and is set to leave the
country this week.
Sanyatwe was retired together with Air Vice-Marshal Shebba
Shumbayawonda, Major General Douglas Nyikayaramba and Major-General Martin
Chedondo, all believed to be Chiwenga allies.
Zanu PF only won one seat in Harare and did not win any in
Bulawayo in last year’s elections, while Mnangagwa performed badly against MDC
Alliance’s Nelson Chamisa.
Mnangagwa and Chiwenga deny reports that they fell out soon
after joining hands to topple former president Robert Mugabe in a coup in
November 2017.
Zanu PF spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo was not reachable for
comment but last week said: “The president will advise on the next action” when
asked to elaborate on
the reasons behind the dissolution of the Zanu PF
structures.
Meanwhile, sources said during last week’s politburo
meeting, Chiwenga proposed that an interim executive must be appointed to run
the affairs of Harare and
Bulawayo, but did not win the argument.
His opponents argued that the party should hold elections
for the main wing, women and youths leagues following the restructuring and
they believe the faction linked to the military will be routed.
“After removing Sanyatwe, the next thing Mnangagwa did was
to remove the Harare structures that he controlled,” another source said. “The
idea is to deal with the military side.”
The source said the tussle for control of the party between
Mnangagwa and Chiwenga was also to blame for the turmoil in the youth league.
Youth league boss Pupurai Togarepi, his deputy Lewis Mathuthu
and secretary for administration Tendai Chirau were recently slapped with votes
of no confidence (VONC), which were overturned by the politburo.
Zanu PF, sources said, was now investigating allegations
that the signatures were forged to advance a factional agenda.
“It was discovered that some of the signatures used for the
votes of no confidence were obtained under the guise that youths would be paid
allowances for attending a meeting in Harare in January,” the source said.
“The party is now investigating who originated the petition
and what happened to the money claimed by some members who were not even at the
meeting and yet there were signatures against their names.
“The VONC were part of the Mnangagwa-Chiwenga fights. Some youths wanted Chirau fired accusing him of working
with Chiwenga, but Togarepi and Mathuthu resisted and they had to pay the
price.”
Zanu PF has always been riddled with factionalism, which
reached fever-pitch during Mugabe’s last days in office and this saw the army
intervening to back Mnangagwa’s faction. Standard
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