Mpofu, who now
occupies the obscure post of secretary for information communication technology
(ICT). was replaced by his Matabeleland North rival Jacob Mudenda in the engine
of the troubled party.
The changes,
announced by Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa in a brief statement,
came just a few weeks before the Zanu PF national people’s conference set for
Mutare next month and days after a stormy politburo meeting.
Mutsvangwa said
Mnangagwa exercised his constitutional mandate to reorganise the structure of
the politburo.
Justice
minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who was the ICT secretary, was appointed secretary
for legal affairs replacing Patrick Chinamasa who is now the treasurer-general,
a position formerly occupied by Mudenda.
“This
reorganisation underscores the party’s enduring commitment to the policies,
tenets and ethos of the party, Zanu PF and the permanent Zimbabwe revolution in
service to the people and to the nation of Zimbabwe,” Mutsvangwa said.
The
announcement came a day after the Zanu PF spokesperson launched an unrestrained
attack on Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who last week presented a
dossier to Mnangagwa exposing alleged corruption by his associates.
Mutsvangwa
accused Chiwenga of being too ambitious and ambushing the Zanu PF leader.
Political
analyst Eldred Masunungure described the infighting as “increasingly vicious”
warning that the struggles in the Zanu PF “cockpit are real".
Masunungure
said the power struggle could take an ugly turn going towards the Mutare
conference.
“There is also
a seeming resemblance to the vashandi vs zvigananda ‘struggles within the
struggle’ of the mid-1970s with distinct echoes of a class struggle of sorts,”
he said.
“That phase had
a bloody ending and hopefully that will not be reproduced this time around. The
long and short of it is that the goings-on in the party are not a mere
distraction.
“These dynamics
must also not be misread by the public (especially the opposition — that which
remains) as signalling the demise of the party and its regime.”
Masunungure
said post-conference Zanu PF would be qualitatively not different from the
pre-conference situation.
“If anything,
the gladiation will likely be either more vicious (hopefully bloodless) or more
subtle in a Machiavellian sense,” he said.
“There will
clearly be winners and losers at Mutare, but it is difficult to imagine the
losers giving the other cheek.”
Another
political commentator Tendai Ruben Mbofana said the latest appointments were a
clear strategy towards the 2030 agenda.
Mbofana said
the strategy also included the elevation of Kudakwashe Tagwirei and protecting
him from both consequences and being blocked from ascending in the hierarchy.
“So the most
notable change there is of Obert Mpofu,” he said.
“We know that
as secretary-general he was very upfront in resisting Tagwirei’s elevation and
they clashed, remember a few (times) one or two months back with Chinamasa
regarding Tagwirei.
“So for him now
to be removed from the secretary-general’s post to ICT, that is clearly being
cast away, you know, into something that is irrelevant.
“He has been
demoted effectively because the secretary-general’s post, if I am not mistaken,
is the fourth most powerful post within the party.”
Mbofana said
Chinamasa, as the party’s treasurer-general, had been rewarded for supporting
the ascendancy of Tagwirei.
“And also
remember those explosive revelations by VP (Constantino) Chiwenga that Tagwirei
was syphoning, you know, about US$3 billion or so of Zanu PF money that is in
shares, 45% shares in Sakunda Holdings,” he said. “So who’s responsible for
investments that are made by Zanu PF? “It’s the treasurer-general.”
Mbofana said
Mudenda was being rewarded for enabling the capture of Parliament and the
opposition.
“So I am sure
he is now being rewarded as a trustworthy loyalist, who will now be given the
assignment of running the party on a day-to-day basis, which is really the job
of the secretary-general,” Mbofana said.
“So this to me
is nothing short of Mnangagwa safeguarding his 2030 agenda just ahead of the
party conference using those reassignments.” Newsday
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