'Mugabe to blame for Mnangagwa, Mphoko conflict'

REVELATIONS by President Robert Mugabe that Vice-Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko are already at each other's throats only six months into the job have brought into focus Zanu-PF's internecine power struggles that are threatening to spiral out of control.

The Standard claims that Mphoko's shocking elevation into the country's second most powerful office alongside his former boss to deputise Mugabe might have triggered a vicious row between the two.

The feud is threatening to destabilise an already shaky administration groaning under the weight of a debilitating economic, social and political crisis party fuelled by the succession wars in Zanu-PF.

Political analyst Ibbo Mandaza blamed Mugabe for the friction between his deputies. He said Mugabe has been the source of trouble in the office of the VP since the days of the late Joshua Nkomo and Simon Muzenda.

He said Mugabe's strategy of making sure none of the two current VPs is subordinate to the other has set the tone for the clash.

A former Zapu national executive member said Mphoko, with little attachment with political structures either in Zapu or Zanu-PF, could be "stepping on a few toes" as he seeks to establish a base for himself before an onslaught for the top job.

"It could be that they are fighting over political turf, but Mphoko was never really attached to the political side of things even during the liberation war period up to last year when he was appointed Vice-President," said the official on condition of anonymity.

"He did not play a big part in the party and that is probably why some people were against his appointment and thought Simon Khaya-Moyo was more senior."

Khaya-Moyo is Zanu-PF's spokesperson who was national chairman before the party's December congress. He had been tipped to take over as Mugabe's deputy before he was edged by Mphoko due to factional fighting.

It seems that Mnangagwa and Mphoko are looking beyond Mugabe.

However, with Mnangagwa having been an active agent in the government for 35 years and Mphoko a relative newcomer to the country's political minefield, the man known as the Crocodile might prove too much for the career diplomat.

Mnangagwa is a political schemer with an uncanny ability to out-fox his adversaries even if it happens at the eleventh hour.