Chiwenga Not Guaranteed to Succeed Mnangagwa as Zanu PF Leader: Mutsvangwa

by Priviledge Zviregei

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is not a foregone conclusion to be Zanu PF’s next leader when President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s second and final term ends in 2028, according to party spokesman Christopher Mutsvangwa.

Mutsvangwa denied the existence of a pact between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga that would see the latter succeed him after they seized power through a military coup in November 2017.

“Zanu PF is not a church where people can be anointed, and the president is not the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury who anoint priests,” Mutsvangwa said in an interview. “If you think you’re worth it, go and sell yourself to the people. If you clamor for anointment by the president, it means you have failed the litmus test of being a Zanu PF leader.”

Mutsvangwa, who is reported to have his own ambitions for the party leadership, accused Chiwenga of being a “reluctant participant” in the 2017 coup that ousted former President Robert Mugabe. He suggested that Chiwenga had held a secret meeting with Mugabe while the coup was in progress, as he wavered on whether to see it through.

The party spokesman said even if Mnangagwa were to endorse Chiwenga as his successor, this would be resisted. “You want to become a leader by induction, like a magnet saying ‘because I am a piece of iron I must also be magnetized by the president?’ Even if the president said there is a secret agreement, we would censor him,” he said.

Zanu PF last held its elective congress in December 2022, and the next one is due in 2027 when Mnangagwa’s successor is likely to emerge. The military plays a major role in Zanu PF internal politics and could still make a decisive intervention in support of its favored candidate.