'Mnangagwa not yet there'

The former confidante to President Robert Mugabe, Didymus Mutasa, has proffered his insights into Zanu-PF's thorny succession question - saying bluntly that acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa was far from being guaranteed to succeed the long-ruling nonagenarian.

The liberation stalwart also lashed hesitant ruling party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo for communicating falsehoods regarding Zanu-PF's damp squib "elective" congress that was held in Harare last month.

He added categorically that Zimbabweans "and not manipulation of (Zanu-PF) processes" would determine who would become the ruling party's and Zimbabwe's next leader.

Although he said he liked Mnangagwa and that he harboured "no ill-will" towards the former Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe legislator, Mutasa described the acting President as a "sly" person, adding that the VP had been elevated to his current party position through an illegal process.

Mutasa had said the party's top leadership had had pandered to the "whims and manipulations" of Mnangagwa and his hard-line party supporters, which had resulted in the leadership sanctioning the "irregular" dismissal of provincial chairpersons who were perceived to be sympathetic to former VP Joice Mujuru, "without following due process".