By Leopold Munhende
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s decision to reshuffle the Zanu PF Politburo could worsen political conflicts that already exist within the ruling party, political analyst Jealousy Mawarire has said.
Mawarire, who was speaking on South African broadcaster eNCA about the redeployment of senior party officials such as Secretary General Obert Mpofu to lowly offices, did not rule out the possibility of a coup.
Zanu PF, this week, communicated Mnangagwa’s decision to remove Mpofu from the powerful secretary general office a few weeks before its congress in Mutare.
Mpofu was replaced by Jacob Mudenda, a well-known Mnangagwa ally and took over the watered-down Secretary of ICT portfolio.
Patrick Chinamasa, who had so far unsuccessfully led calls for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to extend his term beyond the constitutionally mandated two terms, was replaced by Ziyambi Ziyambi as the party’s Secretary for Legal Affairs and appointed Treasurer General.
The shuffle was seen as a way of weakening Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, whose relationship with Mpofu was ‘secretly’ questioned while his bid for presidency in 2028 is fast gaining ground. Chiwenga’s ambition and growing power in the party had also forced talks of a term extension to 2030 to be shelved.
Asked whether a coup was possible, Mawarire said that although he could not say it with authority, anything was possible.
“There is a possibility of escalating political turmoil, of further collapse of the economy and once it collapses and there is discohesion in the ruling party, anything is possible,” said Mawarire.
Despite the recent silence, NewZimbabwe.com is reliably informed that provinces are being whipped into supporting Mnangagwa’s illegal term extension and in the process shut out Chiwenga.
Added Mawarire: “What I am really sure about is that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is pushing for an unconstitutional third term and that is the source of all of the upheaval and the confusion in the cockpit.
“I do not think the conflict is between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga alone. The conflict is between Mnangagwa and the general polity which does not believe in the mutilation of our constitution.”
Section 95 of the Zimbabwean constitution sets a two-term limit on the presidency.
Mnangagwa is in his second five-year term, having finished off about seven months of late President Robert Mugabe’s term after deposing him in a coup in November 2017.