'Army bars Mnangagwa's appointment of Clansman as Zanu-PF Commissar'

EXILED former government minister Jonathan Moyo has sensationally claimed President Emmerson Mnangagwa was going through a tough period after senior military officials blocked him from making key new appointments in Zanu-PF.

Last week, Mnangagwa announced new senior appointments in the governing party, last Wednesday, including appointing disgraced former Vice President Kembo Mohadi as the head of party affairs and Patrick Chinamasa as the acting national political commissar.

Mohadi recently resigned as the country's vice president after he was exposed over his sexual liaisons with female junior colleagues seconded to his office.

However, according to Moyo, who is living in self-exile in Kenya, senior army officers blocked Mnangagwa from appointing as national political, an unnamed Zanu-PF politician from Midlands province. Midlands is the home province for Mnangagwa.

Mnangagwa has in the recent past been accused of appointing people from the Midlands province in influential positions in government, parastatals, and Zanu-PF.

After being blocked from appointing his Midlands "blue-boy", Mnangagwa was forced to settle for Chinamasa, the party's secretary for finance as the acting political commissar.

The post is an influential position, involved in recruiting and mass mobilising party supporters and activities ahead of the 2023 national elections.

However, Moyo accused Mnangagwa of being "irrational and incompetent" by appointing a "loser" like Chinamasa as the Zanu-PF commissar.

"Even as irrational and as incompetent as Mnangagwa's Zanu-PF has shown itself to be, appointing an acting national commissar like Chinamasa, who could not win an election in his backyard constituency in 2018, is clearly an act of desperation. All is not well at Shake Shake Building!" he said.

Chinamasa lost the 2018 parliamentary election for Makoni Central constituency to MDC Alliance's candidate David Tekeshe.

The political commissar's seat in Zanu-PF became vacant following the redeployment of Victor Matemadanda to Mozambique as Zimbabwe's ambassador.

The Maputo post became vacant following the death of then-incumbent Douglas Nyikayaramba, who succumb to Covid-19.

"The disastrous appointment was foisted on Mnangagwa after the military blocked him from appointing a clansman to replace Matemadanda. There is a standoff!" said Moyo Saturday.

Over the past three years, Mnangagwa has been forced to change the national political commissar's post's office bearers, three times.

After Zanu-PF removed former president Robert Mugabe from office in a military-assisted coup in November 2017, and replace him with Mnangagwa, the incumbent leader appointed Elbert Rugeje as the national commissar.

However, Rugeje has removed in May 2019 and was replaced by Matemadanda.

Rugeje was accused by party structures of presiding over chaotic Zanu-PF primary elections ahead of the crucial 2018 national elections, which Mnangagwa won narrowly against Nelson Chamisa, the MDC Alliance presidential candidate.

In the 2018 elections, several Zanu-PF officials also defied party instructions and stood as independent parliamentary or local council candidates after losing in primary elections resulting in the defeat of the party in some constituencies or wards due to a split in votes.

During his time as political commissar, Matemadanda was also accused of failing to organise and manage the December 2020 district coordinating committee elections (DCC) held across the country.

The elections were marred by violence, vote-buying, and serious factional divisions.

Chinamasa's appointment comes when Zanu-PF is on an ambitious national recruitment drive to reach five million supporters ahead of the 2023 elections.