By Political Reporter- A top President Emmerson Mnangagwa ally and Zanu PF Mashonaland East Chairman, Daniel Garwe, has attacked Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and said that Mnangagwa would rule beyond 2028.
Garwe, who is also the Local government Minister Sunday, addressed a meeting in Chivhu and told the gathering that the “ED2030” campaign is irreversible.
The “2030 ED Vachitonga was adopted at the party conference after all our nine party provincial structures had endosed it. At the conference it was then present by the party’s secretary for legal affairs Cde Patrick Chinamasa. I want to tell you here that that resolution its possible and its irreversible,” Garewe told a district feedback meeting in Chihu’s Chikomba district.
Two weeks ago, President Mnangagwa’s allies in his home province, the Midlands, also reignited the push to extend his term of office despite Mnangagwa having stated that he would step down in 2028.
This renewed ambition for a term extension has rekindled tensions between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, following a temporary truce at the Zanu PF conference in Bulawayo in October.
Edson Chiherenge, a vocal supporter of the 2030 agenda and Zanu PF’s Midlands provincial chairperson, was adamant about the push for an extension.
“We want him to continue to rule,” Chiherenge said at a meeting in Kwekwe last week.
“We went to the conference to endorse our resolution as the Midlands province that Mnangagwa should extend his term until 2030… 2030 belongs to Emmerson Mnangagwa.”
Zanu PF’s director of information, Farai Marapira, echoed this sentiment, stating that while the 2030 resolution had been adopted at the conference, the party was still awaiting Mnangagwa’s final stance.
“We respect democracy, and the structures are allowed to speak their minds—that’s the democracy of Zanu PF,” Marapira said.
Despite the provincial push, Mnangagwa himself has publicly stated on three occasions this year that he plans to retire in 2028.
However, a recent, tense, closed-door Politburo meeting between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga suggests that his timeline could be far from settled.
Insiders reported a palpable chill between the two leaders, who reportedly avoided eye contact during heated discussions.
At the heart of the divide is a Mnangagwa-aligned faction that has hinted at a potential constitutional amendment to extend the presidential term to seven years, a move to bolster his Vision 2030 plan.
This proposition, however, clashes with Chiwenga’s interests.
Supported by his military backers, Chiwenga initially opposed Mnangagwa’s bid to stay in office until 2030, pressuring him to announce his tentative exit by 2028.
The rift highlights the unravelling of a once-strong alliance.
Initially, the Mnangagwa-Chiwenga partnership—formed to oust former President Robert Mugabe in 2017—was underpinned by a so-called “gentleman’s agreement,” in which Mnangagwa would serve a single term before handing over power to Chiwenga.
Yet, Mnangagwa’s reliance on the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) rather than the military for his re-election campaign in 2023 only deepened the divide, signalling a shift away from their original pact.
To further weaken Chiwenga’s influence, Mnangagwa appointed Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda to the Politburo, a strategic move aimed at diluting Chiwenga’s power base within the military.
As Zanu PF members remain divided, Mnangagwa’s intentions regarding his term remain uncertain, with speculation mounting that the power struggle within the party is far from over.