'Mugabe in a tight corner to save Zanu-PF'

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's biggest test is to restore discipline in Zanu PF as party stalwarts tear into each other every day in the media as the battle to succeed the ageing leader reaches a crescendo, a political scientist has said.

University of Zimbabwe Political Science lecturer Eldred Masunungure made the comments as Mugabe today is expected to rein in his lieutenants who have been publicly trading accusations of sabotage and scheming behind the scenes ahead of the Zanu PF December congress.

Zanu PF has largely been divided into two main factions rallying behind Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa though both publicly deny harbouring ambitions to succeed Mugabe.

"Mugabe is in a tight corner to save the party that now has serious issues of discipline among its membership as seen from the public media spats among the top leaders," Masunungure said.

Last week, Zanu PF Harare provincial youth chairman Godfrey Gomwe publicly accused the party's secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, politburo member Tendai Savanhu, Harare chairman Amos Midzi and central committee member Noah Mangondo of bribing youths during last month's youth conference.

The four are said to be aligned to the Mujuru faction.

Masunungure added: "What is clear is that there is deceptive unity, cohesion, in Zanu PF and a serious erosion of discipline which for long has been the defining feature of the party."

The analyst further stated: "The indiscipline in the party signals the disintegration of Zanu PF as a party and Mugabe now has the unenviable task to hold the party together."

The Mugabe succession battle took an intriguing twist last month when the Zanu PF youth and women leagues endorsed the leader's wife, Grace, to be appointed to the politburo as women league boss.

The development, while welcomed by many in Zanu PF publicly, has resulted in some members voicing concerns behind the scenes about the unprocedural way Grace's rise is being managed against the party's laid-down regulations for one to be voted into national leadership.

Masunungure said: "Mugabe is now in a quandary whether to appoint his wife to the politburo despite the regulations that clearly show that she is unqualified; or to refuse the nomination from the party structures."