Mnangagwa bays for G40 blood

The Zanu-PF faction rallying behind embattled Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, which has been at the receiving end of savage mauling over the past few months by its avowed party foes, the Generation 40 (G40) group, is said to be fighting back with "malicious intent".

Well-placed Zanu-PF sources told the Daily News yesterday that the feeling among many in the camp was that they now had "very little to lose anymore" after suffering serious setbacks since late last year, including having many of their kingpins unceremoniously chucked out of the warring ruling ground.

"After a lull in this mindless war, there are renewed fears within the party that we could soon witness blood on the shop floor, as the stakes are very high. Indeed, Team Lacoste is fighting back with malicious intent like cornered wild animals.

"They feel they have little to lose anymore, which is why you have since the beginning of this week even been seeing some of their big guns breathing fire in State media and threatening the G40 with all kinds of serious action.

"(Defence Forces Commander General Constantino) Chiwenga's weekend interview did not help matters as well as it was interpreted in some party sections as a factional rant and threat," a Zanu-PF bigwig said.

So bad are the renewed factional and succession wars ravaging Zanu-PF that Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo - said to be a G40 kingpin - suggested yesterday that he and others in the party were being persecuted for rallying behind President Robert Mugabe in the former liberation movement's ugly and seemingly unstoppable ructions.

Moyo's comments came as "burglars" broke into his New Government Complex offices at the weekend, and sprinkled an unknown brown substance on his chair.

A miffed Moyo told the Daily News yesterday that the suspicious break-in, which was being investigated by police, was both "shocking and unprecedented".

"This is shocking and unprecedented, although it's no reason to fear anyone or anything.

"We will continue unfazed and with renewed determination to assist ... Mugabe to discharge his electoral mandate," he said cryptically.

The G40 faction stands accused of being rabidly opposed to Mnangagwa ever taking over from Mugabe, with Moyo said to be the brains behind the group along with Zanu-PF national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere and Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko among other senior party officials.

What makes the fears that the succession battle consuming Zanu-PF could now turn bloody is the fact that the language being used by the combatants has taken a turn for the worse, amid an increased incidence of mysterious break-ins at the offices of senior government officials.

Since his appointment as one of Mugabe's deputies in late 2014, Mnangagwa's offices at the New Government Complex and at Zanu-PF Headquarters have been broken into a record six times —with authorities vainly pledging to bring the culprits to book each time that this has happened.

Up to today, no one has been apprehended in connection with the vexing break-ins, leaving both observers and petrified Zanu-PF members to speculate that all these "burglaries" are inside jobs related to the ruling party's deadly succession wars.

This is said to be the case, more so after Mnangagwa's secretary had to be hospitalised after being poisoned with suspected cyanide in one of these break-ins.

In January last year, "burglars" also broke into the offices of the then Transport minister, Obert Mpofu, with police saying nothing was stolen from the offices.

This was followed by another burglary at Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku's Mashonganyika Building offices where the assailants stole a desktop computer and a television set.

A few days later, four judges also reported that they had lost keys to their offices, prompting the Judicial Service Commission to urgently request police security at the Supreme and Constitutional courts.