News / National
Zanu-PF Precabe jaunt raises eyebrows
26 May 2025 at 08:53hrs | Views
Members of ZANU-PF's central committee and politburo are gathering today at President Emmerson Mnangagwa's Precabe Farm outside Kwekwe in what insiders say is a strategic meeting to prepare the ruling party for life after the 82-year-old leader.
Mnangagwa, currently serving his last five-year term after contentious elections in 2018 and 2023, has publicly pledged to step down in 2028. However, a faction within ZANU-PF is pushing for him to extend his tenure by two more years, aiming to delay the 2028 elections until 2030.
This faction has controversially engaged with the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) interim secretary general in an attempt to extend the current Parliament's term, a move perceived as a strategy to block Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga from succeeding Mnangagwa. This power struggle has sharply divided the ruling party into two camps backing either Mnangagwa or Chiwenga.
Precabe Farm has become a stronghold for proponents of the 2030 extension agenda, while Chiwenga's supporters are reportedly being sidelined from major party events. Speculation is rife that businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei is being positioned as Mnangagwa's preferred successor under this plan.
ZANU-PF spokesperson Farai Marapira dismissed claims that the meeting at Precabe Farm was a launch for Tagwirei's presidential campaign. Instead, he framed the gathering as focused on advancing a "manufacturing economy backed by a vibrant farming and mining industry."
The push for a 2030 election has met resistance within ZANU-PF, notably from war veterans who advocate for Chiwenga's succession. Early this year, former central committee member and war veteran Blessed Geza publicly criticized Mnangagwa, accusing him of corruption, nepotism, and misgovernance, and called for his resignation.
ZANU-PF is scheduled to hold its elective congress in 2027, but extending Mnangagwa's term would reduce the congress to a formality rather than a genuine contest for leadership.
Observers expect today's meeting to be a critical moment where senior party officials will be pressured to align behind the controversial 2030 plan, deepening the factional divisions within Zimbabwe's ruling party.
Mnangagwa, currently serving his last five-year term after contentious elections in 2018 and 2023, has publicly pledged to step down in 2028. However, a faction within ZANU-PF is pushing for him to extend his tenure by two more years, aiming to delay the 2028 elections until 2030.
This faction has controversially engaged with the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) interim secretary general in an attempt to extend the current Parliament's term, a move perceived as a strategy to block Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga from succeeding Mnangagwa. This power struggle has sharply divided the ruling party into two camps backing either Mnangagwa or Chiwenga.
Precabe Farm has become a stronghold for proponents of the 2030 extension agenda, while Chiwenga's supporters are reportedly being sidelined from major party events. Speculation is rife that businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei is being positioned as Mnangagwa's preferred successor under this plan.
The push for a 2030 election has met resistance within ZANU-PF, notably from war veterans who advocate for Chiwenga's succession. Early this year, former central committee member and war veteran Blessed Geza publicly criticized Mnangagwa, accusing him of corruption, nepotism, and misgovernance, and called for his resignation.
ZANU-PF is scheduled to hold its elective congress in 2027, but extending Mnangagwa's term would reduce the congress to a formality rather than a genuine contest for leadership.
Observers expect today's meeting to be a critical moment where senior party officials will be pressured to align behind the controversial 2030 plan, deepening the factional divisions within Zimbabwe's ruling party.
Source - The Standard
