By A Correspondent
On Wednesday, the enviable task of releasing an official rebuttal to the ongoing internal conflict between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, over succession fell to Zimbabwe’s Information Minister, Jenfan Muswere.
Chiwenga and his loyal military allies are allegedly plotting to stop Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF goons from running for a third term as president. This unconstitutional move has caused a rift between the nation’s most powerful leaders.
Although the President’s faction wants him to stay until 2030 ostensibly to carry out the programmes outlined in the Vision 2030 blueprint, Chiwenga, ahead of second vice president Kembo Mohadi, is reportedly interested in becoming Mnangagwa’s successor. His second and final term ends in 2028.
Speaking to the media in Harare, Muswere stated that the party was proceeding with the 21st National People’s Conference in Bulawayo as scheduled because there was no vacancy in the highest office.
“The National People’s Conference, which is not an elective conference or congress, will be hosted by the ruling Zanu PF party with the theme “Mechanise, Modernise And Grow The Economy Towards Vision 2030.”
Muswere stated that the agenda, theme, and focus had been outlined in detail by Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, the national chairman and defence minister.
“Mnangagwa was democratically elected to the State House in 2023 elections, and he also obtained his position as the party’s first secretary through constitutional means,” he added.
According to the minister, “there is essentially no vacancy in the Office of the President, as the government and party leadership are appropriately constituted in accordance with their respective constitutions.”
Despite the clearly tense atmosphere that pervaded Tuesday’s Politburo meeting in Harare, where Mnangagwa and Chiwenga sat side by side but did not display the customary camaraderie, he added that there are no fights in the presidency.
“There is singleness in unity, love, comradeship and harmony in the presidium and government.
“There is therefore no conflict in the cockpit, and the Zimbabwean government is currently focused on making sure that poverty is reduced and that the people of Zimbabwe have a better future.”
In order to support Mnangagwa “as he spearheads and shepherds the nation towards an upper middle-income society by the year 2030,” all stakeholders were asked to unite.
Those selling “fiction” about the Zanu PF leadership struggles were cautioned by the information minister to be prepared to face the full force of the law.
“On social media, we are unmoved by the fervently misguided efforts of dimwits who seek to sow the seeds of division. Theatrics and the creation of fiction through fictitious mandates are not acceptable, and those who are determined to mislead the public will face legal consequences,” Muswere stated.