News / National
Zanu-PF block Mugabe succession debate
25 May 2012 at 20:38hrs | Views
ZANU-PF has all but blocked the divisive debate on President Robert Mugabe's succession, leaving the party open to more complex internal dynamics as rival camps jostling to succeed him are not letting up the fight and have simply gone further underground.
An extraordinary politburo session chaired by President Mugabe last Wednesday glossed over the issue of the party's life after his exit; reminding members that the ZANU-PF first secretary was the party's presidential candidate after a December 2011 national people's congress held in Bulawayo unanimously endorsed his candidature.
The ZANU-PF leadership is only up for re-election in 2014.
But that has done little to restrain ZANU-PF hawks eyeing the top job amid indications that those behind the factional fights, including their proxies, could once again face off in District Coordinating Committee (DCC) poll re-runs expected next month.
A report tabled by ZANU-PF political commissar, Web-ster Shamu at the special meeting revealed that infighting had reached fever pitch in the provinces as divisions that had hitherto been swept under the carpet ruptured during the DCC elections held in the majority of provinces.
Shamu, probably facing the most difficult assignment in his career, had offered a gloomy assessment of the chaos engulfing the party's provinces in his report to the politburo. In the end, he was instructed to nullify disputed DCC elections and to conduct re-runs immediately, this time without the involvement of the Provincial Coordinating Committees.
ZANU-PF insiders doubt if Shamu would be able to do the job of bringing sanity back to the party, with others describing him as too junior to rein in some of his superiors said to be behind the factionalism that has divided the party right through the middle. In fact, retired air vice marshal Henry Muchena, and Sidney Nyanu-ngo, a former Central Intelligence Organisation director for internal affairs, who now work for ZANU-PF, are seen playing prominent roles in the restructuring of the party, including the conduct of the re-runs.
At last week's politburo meeting, some members had expressed reservations about washing the party's dirty linen in public, but President Mugabe overruled them, opening the stage for heated exchanges between party cadres.
President Mugabe, according to ZANU-PF insiders, was the only senior member of the Soviet-style supreme decision-making body in between congresses to emerge from the meeting unscathed. The rest came out of the indaba bruised, either directly or indirectly, for their involvement in the factional fights.
The ZANU-PF leader was said to have been peeved by party cadres whose quest for power has had a divisive effect.
When the succession issue was raised, it was made clear that the party leader was the sole presidential candidate and that ambitious members of the party should stop dreaming.
While the meeting reiterated that polls would be held this year without fail in line with the party's 2011 conference resolution, there are some among ZANU-PF faithful who fear that rushed elections could fast-track the demise of the party as some members, particularly sitting legislators, are said to be flatly opposed to the staging of polls before the expiry of their current terms.
The meeting also resolved to give the Constitution Parliamentary Select Com-mittee up to the end of this month to come up with a completed draft constitution to pave way for fresh elections.
Unlike in previous politburo meetings where members would be guarded for fear of reprisals, the gloves were off last week.
Vice-President Joice Mujuru was also in the line of fire. She was attacked by an unlikely source, Saviour Kasukuwere â€" the deputy secretary for youth affairs in the politburo â€" in a tirade that came as a surprise as the two had hitherto be seen as belonging to the same camp.
Kasukuwere allegedly accused VP Mujuru of vote buying and dividing the party in Mashonaland Central. The two hail from Mashonaland Central, with Mujuru being the party's House of Assembly representative for Mount Darwin West, while Kasukuwere is the lawmaker for Mount Darwin South.
Mujuru is said to have pulled the rug from under Kasukuwere's feet when her chance to respond came. She pulled a fast one on Kasukuwere when Nicholas Goche, on being questioned by Mujuru about her involvement in Mashonaland Central vouched that the Vice-President had in fact asked the provincial leadership to clean up the mess in the region. As a result, Kasukuwere was left exposed.
Mujuru is also said to have denied leading a faction, emphasising she was the second in command in the party, which places her beyond being factional.
Kasukuwere's attack on the VP was seen as an indication that the Youth Development, Indigenisation and Emp-owerment minister wants to project himself as his own man. But some critics have said this could be a result of shifting allegiances in ZANU-PF or a ruse meant to deflect speculation that the two were working together.
According to the same sources, Mujuru said Kasukuwere was behaving like a tribesman, out to fill all the key posts in the province with his lieutenants.Mujuru also reminded other party members aspiring for the top job to patiently wait for their turn, saying there was a hierarchy to be followed in ZANU-PF.
Mujuru also implied that Josiah Hun-gwe was causing chaos in Masvingo, reminding members of his chequered past whereby he used to denigrate liberation war fighters while still working for the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation, at the time used as a propaganda tool by the Ian Smith regime.
In an interview this week, ZANU-PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo solidified VP Mujuru's position on the succession issue.
"The succession issue came after Shamu's report. We have a President and a structure that has to be followed unless the party decides otherwise. Anyone who deviates from that structure is a reactionary, a destabilising force," said Gumbo.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, the ZANU-PF secretary for legal affairs was not spared by the indirect attacks although he, along with Sydney Sekeramai and Kembo Mohadi had to leave the meeting early to travel on business outside the country. His perceived "foot soldiers" came under heavy fire for fanning divisions in the provinces.
The Midlands leadership was also left with egg on their faces when Cephas Msipa passed a scathing assessment of the DCC polls conducted in the province saying he was told of the eventual winners long before the elections were conducted. The Midlands DCC polls were seen as having been won by a majority of people said to be loyal to Mnangagwa.
The party's bigwigs from the other provinces were also said to have taken each other to task. In Masvingo province where police had to be called to quell violence ignited by demonstrations in protest over the imposition of candidates, Dzikamai Mavhaire had a heated exchange with Stan Mudenge over the divisions in that province.
In Bulawayo, where a vote of no confidence was passed against the party's provincial chairperson, Isaac Dakamela, Tshinga Dube crossed swords with Sikhanyiso Ndlovu over the suspension. Dube is for the suspension while Ndlovu is against. Dube openly told Shamu that he won't be welcome in Bulawayo if his agenda is to rescue Dakamela.
So Shamu's task is not going to be easy.
ZANU-PF insiders said he risks creating enemies whichever path he takes.Previous holders of his post in ZANU PF, such as the late Border Gezi and Elliot Manyika, have also faced trying times when it came to restructuring the party, an exercise always linked to succession politics.
An extraordinary politburo session chaired by President Mugabe last Wednesday glossed over the issue of the party's life after his exit; reminding members that the ZANU-PF first secretary was the party's presidential candidate after a December 2011 national people's congress held in Bulawayo unanimously endorsed his candidature.
The ZANU-PF leadership is only up for re-election in 2014.
But that has done little to restrain ZANU-PF hawks eyeing the top job amid indications that those behind the factional fights, including their proxies, could once again face off in District Coordinating Committee (DCC) poll re-runs expected next month.
A report tabled by ZANU-PF political commissar, Web-ster Shamu at the special meeting revealed that infighting had reached fever pitch in the provinces as divisions that had hitherto been swept under the carpet ruptured during the DCC elections held in the majority of provinces.
Shamu, probably facing the most difficult assignment in his career, had offered a gloomy assessment of the chaos engulfing the party's provinces in his report to the politburo. In the end, he was instructed to nullify disputed DCC elections and to conduct re-runs immediately, this time without the involvement of the Provincial Coordinating Committees.
ZANU-PF insiders doubt if Shamu would be able to do the job of bringing sanity back to the party, with others describing him as too junior to rein in some of his superiors said to be behind the factionalism that has divided the party right through the middle. In fact, retired air vice marshal Henry Muchena, and Sidney Nyanu-ngo, a former Central Intelligence Organisation director for internal affairs, who now work for ZANU-PF, are seen playing prominent roles in the restructuring of the party, including the conduct of the re-runs.
At last week's politburo meeting, some members had expressed reservations about washing the party's dirty linen in public, but President Mugabe overruled them, opening the stage for heated exchanges between party cadres.
President Mugabe, according to ZANU-PF insiders, was the only senior member of the Soviet-style supreme decision-making body in between congresses to emerge from the meeting unscathed. The rest came out of the indaba bruised, either directly or indirectly, for their involvement in the factional fights.
The ZANU-PF leader was said to have been peeved by party cadres whose quest for power has had a divisive effect.
When the succession issue was raised, it was made clear that the party leader was the sole presidential candidate and that ambitious members of the party should stop dreaming.
While the meeting reiterated that polls would be held this year without fail in line with the party's 2011 conference resolution, there are some among ZANU-PF faithful who fear that rushed elections could fast-track the demise of the party as some members, particularly sitting legislators, are said to be flatly opposed to the staging of polls before the expiry of their current terms.
The meeting also resolved to give the Constitution Parliamentary Select Com-mittee up to the end of this month to come up with a completed draft constitution to pave way for fresh elections.
Unlike in previous politburo meetings where members would be guarded for fear of reprisals, the gloves were off last week.
Vice-President Joice Mujuru was also in the line of fire. She was attacked by an unlikely source, Saviour Kasukuwere â€" the deputy secretary for youth affairs in the politburo â€" in a tirade that came as a surprise as the two had hitherto be seen as belonging to the same camp.
Kasukuwere allegedly accused VP Mujuru of vote buying and dividing the party in Mashonaland Central. The two hail from Mashonaland Central, with Mujuru being the party's House of Assembly representative for Mount Darwin West, while Kasukuwere is the lawmaker for Mount Darwin South.
Mujuru is said to have pulled the rug from under Kasukuwere's feet when her chance to respond came. She pulled a fast one on Kasukuwere when Nicholas Goche, on being questioned by Mujuru about her involvement in Mashonaland Central vouched that the Vice-President had in fact asked the provincial leadership to clean up the mess in the region. As a result, Kasukuwere was left exposed.
Mujuru is also said to have denied leading a faction, emphasising she was the second in command in the party, which places her beyond being factional.
Kasukuwere's attack on the VP was seen as an indication that the Youth Development, Indigenisation and Emp-owerment minister wants to project himself as his own man. But some critics have said this could be a result of shifting allegiances in ZANU-PF or a ruse meant to deflect speculation that the two were working together.
According to the same sources, Mujuru said Kasukuwere was behaving like a tribesman, out to fill all the key posts in the province with his lieutenants.Mujuru also reminded other party members aspiring for the top job to patiently wait for their turn, saying there was a hierarchy to be followed in ZANU-PF.
Mujuru also implied that Josiah Hun-gwe was causing chaos in Masvingo, reminding members of his chequered past whereby he used to denigrate liberation war fighters while still working for the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation, at the time used as a propaganda tool by the Ian Smith regime.
In an interview this week, ZANU-PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo solidified VP Mujuru's position on the succession issue.
"The succession issue came after Shamu's report. We have a President and a structure that has to be followed unless the party decides otherwise. Anyone who deviates from that structure is a reactionary, a destabilising force," said Gumbo.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, the ZANU-PF secretary for legal affairs was not spared by the indirect attacks although he, along with Sydney Sekeramai and Kembo Mohadi had to leave the meeting early to travel on business outside the country. His perceived "foot soldiers" came under heavy fire for fanning divisions in the provinces.
The Midlands leadership was also left with egg on their faces when Cephas Msipa passed a scathing assessment of the DCC polls conducted in the province saying he was told of the eventual winners long before the elections were conducted. The Midlands DCC polls were seen as having been won by a majority of people said to be loyal to Mnangagwa.
The party's bigwigs from the other provinces were also said to have taken each other to task. In Masvingo province where police had to be called to quell violence ignited by demonstrations in protest over the imposition of candidates, Dzikamai Mavhaire had a heated exchange with Stan Mudenge over the divisions in that province.
In Bulawayo, where a vote of no confidence was passed against the party's provincial chairperson, Isaac Dakamela, Tshinga Dube crossed swords with Sikhanyiso Ndlovu over the suspension. Dube is for the suspension while Ndlovu is against. Dube openly told Shamu that he won't be welcome in Bulawayo if his agenda is to rescue Dakamela.
So Shamu's task is not going to be easy.
ZANU-PF insiders said he risks creating enemies whichever path he takes.Previous holders of his post in ZANU PF, such as the late Border Gezi and Elliot Manyika, have also faced trying times when it came to restructuring the party, an exercise always linked to succession politics.
Source - Fingaz
