By A Correspondent| Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa has launched a scathing attack on businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, accusing him of “uninformed ambition” and declaring that the millionaire donor is “not ready” for senior leadership within the ruling party.

Speaking to The Standard, Mutsvangwa ridiculed Tagwirei’s ill-fated attempt to bulldoze his way into the Zanu PF central committee — the party’s top decision-making body between congresses — labelling the move “procedurally wrong” and “indicative of bad faith.”

Tagwirei, who built his wealth through state contracts and is widely regarded as Zanu PF’s biggest financier, had accepted a recommendation from Harare province to be co-opted into the central committee. He attended the committee’s July 3 meeting but was unceremoniously kicked out, reportedly on orders from Vice President Constantino Chiwenga. The party later clarified that while Harare had nominated Tagwirei, the central committee had not yet ratified the recommendation — and the matter was not even on the meeting’s agenda.

Mutsvangwa, never shy about his disdain for Tagwirei, took the opportunity to school the tycoon on party protocol.

“Whether it was for lack of proper advice from the Harare provincial leadership or personal ambition, he assumed it would be a headlong stampede,” Mutsvangwa said.

“The constitution had to be read out to him that ‘you are not yet a member and that you are coming into an institution with principles and guidelines.’”

The blunt spokesman went further, suggesting Tagwirei should consider starting his political journey at the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology to learn about Zanu PF’s founding tenets and historical context.

“This ignorance or naivety indicates that his beginning should be the Chitepo School of Ideology. The tenets of the party are concretised in its constitution, and if you are coming in, you have to relate accordingly,” Mutsvangwa said.

Tagwirei’s political ambitions have stirred anxiety within the party, with critics accusing him of attempting to leverage his financial influence to position himself as a future successor to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose second and final term ends in 2028.

But the move has united some unlikely allies, including Mutsvangwa and Chiwenga — both of whom reportedly oppose Tagwirei’s fast-tracked rise. Chiwenga has previously labelled a clique of wealthy, politically-connected businessmen like Tagwirei as zvigananda — profiteers who have captured the state’s procurement systems to enrich themselves at the country’s expense.

Reflecting on Tagwirei’s premature central committee appearance, Mutsvangwa said: “It shows you’re not ready to be part of it and you may have to go back and understand where you are… He wanted to know the power he was assuming, not the mode to exercise that power.”