Mnangagwa to be Zimbabwe President for just over a year

Zimbabwe's first vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is set to rule the country for just slightly over a year, any-time between now and the 2018 watershed polls, Spotlight Zimbabwe reported.

According to a Zanu-PF Politburo member, with inside knowledge of the pending presidency, which shall see Mnangagwa finishing off President Robert Mugabe's tenure, on grounds of his old age battles and increasing health woes, the VP wants to step in and resolve Harare's economic crisis, as his primary goal and short-lived legacy, among other things including reported plans to negotiate for amnesty for the regime's hardliners, who risk ending up behind bars in the Hague, for crimes against humanity and atrocities committed by the administration during Mugabe's rule.

The country is due to hold it's next harmonised elections by July 22 2018, in line with electoral laws enshrined in the new Constitution.

Spotlight Zimbabwe has been the first online publication, to report on Mnangagwa's power ascendency with surety on the 23rd of March this year. We have also reported with verification and confirmation from top government sources, that Mnangagwa is going to appoint current Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) Commander, General Constantino Chiwenga, as his deputy president.

Mnangagwa is bubbling with political confidence, and walking with a spring in his step, after all but being recently endorsed by key world powers, such as China and Britain. The former is reported to be prepared to pour in a massive US$5billion into the economy, should Mnangagwa move to State House, while the latter's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Catriona Laing, has been accused by the opposition of lobbying Downing Street to accept a Mnangagwa presidency.

"Mnangagwa's tenure as Zimbabwe's president is going to be the shortest in history," said the ruling party's Politburo official during an evening call yesterday. "It will not last more than a year. I understand he wants to earn the legacy of having restored our country's economy during this short period, because he has been working very hard together with the finance minister and Reserve bank governor to stimulate an economic turnaround when he comes into office, which could be any-time between now and before the president's tenure expires."

The Zanu-PF senior official who sits on one of the five cabinet committees chaired by Mnangagwa, also said the intelligence community has determined that chances are slim for the VP to win the 2018 presidential plebiscite, as his predecessor Joice Mujuru and former PM Morgan Tsvangirai's grand coalition is going to be "very difficult to beat".

An expelled former cabinet minister told Spotlight Zimbabwe on Tuesday, that he had it on good account, that Mnangagwa will also use his anticipated reign to negotiate for amnesty for top Zanu-PF and government officials in his inner circle, who might end up being charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for crimes against humanity.

"Spotlight Zimbabwe wrote about General Chiwenga becoming the next vice president right?" said the dismissed minister. "Why do you think it is happening this way? They want to have bargaining power to negotiate for amnesty and a safe exit, so that they will not be arraigned before the ICC for their crimes, which I believe Tsvangirai and Mujuru will be forced to agree to, as condition for Mnangagwa and General Chiwenga to accept defeat and step down if they lose the 2018 elections."