Mnangagwa goes after July Moyo

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is considering sacking local government minister July Moyo after receiving security and official briefings indicating he harbours presidential ambitions and was a key schemer in many of the woes the ruling party suffered during its chaotic recent provincial elections.

This comes as the party has called its second politburo meeting in as many weeks this Saturday.

Numerous sources told NewZimbabwe.com Thursday that the axe has been hanging over Moyo's head for some time and recent dramatic scenes from his Midlands home heightened tensions between the Mnangagwa and the local government minister.

Moyo, who is angling to be the province's godfather, is reportedly behind former state security minister Owen Mudha Ncube's weekend shenanigans which led to his dismissal fro cabinet.

Apart from his excursions in the province, Moyo is reported to have played a pivotal role in controversies that rocked other provinces during the recent elections, particularly in Mashonaland Central and Manicaland.

Sources said Mudha, at Moyo's behest, deployed dozens of Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives to help certain candidates win despite having been unpopular with voters.

Sources further said following Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meetings held across the country on Saturday, Mnangagwa summoned some nine ministers and senior politburo members seconded to supervise proceedings in the provinces to two meetings on Monday, where Moyo's name feature prominently "in very bad light".

The Zanu-PF leader also met with some losing candidates he has a soft spot for and told them to calm down since he has plans for them in the not-so-distant future, according to government sources.

"They met him (Mnangagwa) in two batches. He met the first group which included five ministers at the party's national headquarters in the morning. That meeting took about three hours and Mudha's fate was sealed from it," a highly placed source said.

"The second meeting, which included four minister, politburo members and some party officials from provinces, took place at State House. It started at around 11am and ended just after 2pm on Monday.

"Again, July Moyo's name featured prominently in much of the disgruntlements regarding the provincial elections. The president, at the end of the meeting, said he knew everything that was going on and was waiting for the right time to take action. It was in that meeting that he broke the news that he had decided to fire Mudha," the source said.

"So, from the look of things, it appears July Moyo's days are numbered. Remember he is where he is courtesy of the president's benevolence. The president handpicked him after he had lost the election for the Redcliff (National Assembly) seat, and he really has no roots of his own except in the presidency," the source added.

"Someone reported in those meetings that during ahead of the provincial elections, Moyo was frequently being referred to as Prime Minister in their conferences," the source said.

Another source said Moyo is not in good books on personal terms with the first family, particularly First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa.

He is also reported to have resorted to occultic practices to aide his presidential ambitions and, according to sources, believes he is hereditarily the right person to succeed Mnangagwa since he is of the Rozvi Dynasty, a powerful ancient monarch which ruled Zimbabwe between 1684-1850 before, as history says, being decimated by the emerging Ndebele State.

At one point, another source said, Moyo gathered some chiefs and spirit mediums at a traditional beer ceremony which was interpreted in the security sector as an attempt to get primeval coronation and since then, plans have been afoot to remove the traditional leaders portfolio from his ministry.

This is in addition to reports last year peddled by former cabinet minister Jonathan Moyo indicating his namesake he was using witchcraft in his efforts to topple the Zanu-PF leader.

"JULY MOYO IN A FIX WITH ED: In 2020 he saw a N'anga on how to succeed ED; was advised to buy shoes; he got them in TURKEY; N'anga put juju on shoes and asked July to give ED as B/Day gift. Plot leaked to ED's N'anga. July delivered shoes in Kwekwe & all OCCULTIC HELL BROKE LOOSE," he tweeted at the time.

"AS JULY delivered his birthday gift package to Mnangagwa at his Kwekwe farm, Auxillia intercepted it to see what was in it; when she saw a fancy pair of shoes, she screamed, ‘shangu dziya, shangu dziya'; Mnangagwa then asked July to leave immediately with the shoes, "buda, buda!," Prof Moyo said.

Outspoken independent MP for Norton, Temba Mliswa, has also previously accused Mudha and July Moyo of plotting to destroy Mnangagwa's political life. He also accused July Moyo of holding a meeting with traditional chiefs from the Midlands to plot his ambitions to be the country's next president.

"He (July Moyo) loses a parliamentary election and is on the job at the mercy of the President. Why would you even think that I would even want to talk about July Moyo when I win elections, where I beat his party and he fails to win elections," Mliswa said last year.

"July Moyo is well-known for being ambitious. The president knows he convened a meeting with Varozvi (traditional) chiefs so that he could be in power. It is well-known that July Moyo has failed dismally to run the Local Government ministry to the point that people regret where (Ignatius) Chombo went. July Moyo who we all know acts like a de-facto Prime Minister," Mliswa said.