The Sunday Mail
Kuda Bwititi
Chief Reporter
President Mugabe is still Zanu-PF’s 2018 Presidential candidate, and those plotting to succeed him face disciplinary action, party spokesperson Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo has said.
The Politburo, Ambassador Moyo said, will soon come up with, among other determinations, a position following reports of successionist politics in the party.
Over the weeks, the private Press has been teeming with stories of successionist fights within Zanu-PF.
The articles have largely pitted a group purported to be backing Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the Presidency and another which claims to be rooting for First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe.
Amai Mugabe has repeatedly dismissed these reports, pointing out that she harbours no Presidential ambitions as her plate is full with her charity work and role as Zanu-PF Women’s League Secretary.
She has also spoken of her cordial relations with VP Mnangagwa.
Authorities believe such reports are the handiwork of “successionists” who constantly work with the private media to further their agenda.
Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba confirmed as much in an interview with ZiFM Stereo radio station last Thursday as he warned party officials who claim to back the First Family while harbouring presidential ambitions themselves.
Describing them as fools, Mr Charamba said these “little fellas” have variably leaked Politburo deliberations, with some working with the People First project.
He said: “My boss’ tenure is being discussed by his juniors, and this is what makes me angry. . .They sit there with some little newsmen, compose headlines, repeat arguments that they were saying when they were working with me and they think they are being discreet.
“They think we don’t see that. The tragedy is to try and be clever than the people; to think that you are the brightest brain around. That’s tragic. But something must give in now. I am having to fend off bad Press from within Zanu-PF not from MDC, but from within Zanu-PF; 24/7, from my fellow party members.”
Ambassador Khaya Moyo upped the ante with indications that extensive reports of these successionist plots are likely to come under the spotlight at Zanu-PF’s Politburo meeting in coming days. He reiterated that President Mugabe’s 2018 candidature had been unanimously endorsed by the party’s 2014 National Congress and 2015 Annual National People’s Conference.
He told The Sunday Mail, “I do not want to pre-empt what the Politburo will focus on in its next meeting, but I would like to think that issues such as the ongoing media reports about factionalism will be discussed.
“When the President returns (from the African Union Summit in Ethiopia), it is likely that we will have a Politburo meeting to dwell on a number of issues, including review of the National People’s Congress (of 2014) as well as the (2015) Conference resolutions.”
He went on: “It is during this debate that we will want to know what is happening in the party. So, maybe after the meeting I will be able to speak on what the Politburo would have decided on such issues.
“As a party, we have taken a position that the President will be our candidate for 2018. Anyone who thinks differently is being ill-disciplined and going against the party.
“We took a position at the 2014 Congress that President Mugabe will be our candidate for 2018. This position was confirmed at Conference last year and nothing has changed. Any talk of succession is out order because there is no one to succeed. The President is still there.”
Ambassador Khaya Moyo said Zanu-PF’s stance against factionalism was clear.
“We have one centre of power and that is President Mugabe. Anyone who promotes factionalism in the party risks facing the consequences. (Abusing the First Family to pursue personal interests) is a sign of gross indiscipline and is unacceptable.”
Political analyst Mr Godwine Mureriwa said party officials “who lose focus should be disciplined”.
“It appears some cadres in Zanu-PF are losing focus in terms of the mandate they were given by the electorate. Many people tend to see Amai Mugabe as a symbol of succession strife, but they are very wrong because she has on many occasions said she is not interested,” said Mr Mureriwa.
“When you see her going around the provinces, she is not sowing divisions, she is creating contact with the people. There are a lot of things that need attention – like the economy – and we have some people fighting for a vacancy that is not even there.”
Gweru-based political analyst Professor Nhamo Mhiripiri added, “We are at a time when the nation is anticipating that the economy is going to improve following several deals that were signed by Government last year. The last thing we need is intra-party fighting in Zanu PF as that will divert attention away from Government business.
“It will dampen the electorate’s spirit as the people are pinning their hopes on Government to improve the situation. It is sad that when these fights are taking place, we don’t see any ideological debate on how the economy can be improved.”
