THE fierce fights within President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party are being fuelled by jostling for the national chairperson’s post which is likely to fall vacant soon following the expected elevation of Simon Khaya Moyo to the position of Vice-President, sources have said.
Report by Everson Mushava
The Vice-President’s post fell vacant following the death of John Landa Nkomo in January.
Sources said Nkomo’s death ignited fierce internal party fights with members linked to Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s camps battling to fill the vacancy.
“The Mujuru camp has already drawn up a line-up with Mujuru at the top, Khaya Moyo and Didymus Mutasa (party secretary for administration) as the other Vice-President while Rugare Gumbo (party spokesperson) will be the party’s national chairman,” one source told NewsDay.
“The internal fights in provinces are mainly caused by attempts by factions to control the party structures as the succession debate rages on.”
Gumbo last week told NewsDay that the VP’s post would be filled by someone from the former PF Zapu in accordance with the 1987 Unity Accord signed between PF Zapu and Zanu PF, but admitted that the party’s constitution was silent on the selection criteria.
“I cannot say Cde Khaya Moyo will be the next Vice-President, but I am certain if we follow the Unity Accord, the candidate for the VP post should come from former PF Zapu,” Gumbo said.
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“Frankly speaking, people should not worry about those succession issues, the party will sit down and sort it out.”
The late John Nkomo and his predecessors Joseph Msika and Joshua Nkomo were former PF Zapu members. According to the Zanu PF hierarchy, Khaya Moyo is the likely candidate for the post.
Gumbo could not, however disclose when the party would have an extraordinary congress to fill the Vice-President position. He denied the post of chairman was the main cause of internal fights as factions attempts to position themselves.
“I don’t know whether fighting in Manicaland is caused by factionalism.
“No one is positioning himself. I just know there are some issues between the provincial leadership, and beyond that I really don’t know. This could be mere speculation,” Gumbo said.
Zanu PF had been dogged by serious infighting that dates back to the 1970s liberation struggle.
The fights resurfaced in 2004 when Mnangagwa reportedly positioned himself for the Vice-Presidency ahead of Mujuru.
Since then, the two camps have been engaging in serious fights as the race to succeed Mugabe, now 89, hots up.
Recently, the politburo dispatched a Khaya Moyo-led delegation to try to close ranks between warring factions in Manicaland and Matabeleland.
Sources said the Mujuru camp wanted to decimate Mnangagwa’s chances of landing the chairmanship post.
