2030 Agenda Splits ZANU PF Leadership

By Staff reporter

HARARE – Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa was expected to join other global leaders at the United Nations summit in New York this week. His security team had already flown ahead to prepare for his arrival. But in a dramatic turn, they were forced to return home abruptly after Mnangagwa cancelled the trip.

Sources close to ZANU PF’s inner circles told The Post on Sunday that the President’s no-show is directly linked to the intensifying political storm within the ruling party. Tensions are boiling over as rival factions clash over Mnangagwa’s future and the contested push for him to remain in office beyond 2028.

Inside ZANU PF, activists and loyalists are pressing Mnangagwa to embrace the so-called “Vision 2030” agenda, not just as a development blueprint but as a political project that would extend his leadership beyond the constitutional two terms. Yet the move is deeply unpopular with senior party members, war veterans, and sections of the military elite.

“The train has already derailed,” one source admitted. “While some bootlickers want Mnangagwa to rule until 2030, veterans of the struggle and powerful generals are saying no. They are not prepared to sacrifice the constitution for personal ambitions.”

Even some opposition lawmakers, in an unusual twist, are reportedly willing to back the agenda, further muddying the waters of Zimbabwe’s fragile democracy.

The succession storm coincides with renewed criticism of entrenched corruption within ZANU PF. Party spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa recently lashed out at individuals he accused of buying their way into senior positions using ill-gotten wealth. He claimed some of the money was siphoned from government tenders through the party ZANU PF, in what Zimbabweans have come to call “tenderpreneur politics.”

Citizens have long accused the ruling elite of enriching themselves while ordinary people endure economic hardship, joblessness, and deepening poverty.

Today, Mutsvangwa is on record defending, Kudakwashe Tagwirei and Mabvuku Member of Parliament, Scott pedzisai Sakupwanya.

Adding fuel to the fire is the outspoken war veteran Blessed Runesu Geza, a former senior ZANU PF member expelled for challenging Mnangagwa. Now reportedly on the police wanted list, Geza has been rallying support for Vice President Constantino Chiwenga as a possible successor.

Geza,s claims see that from the original 2017 coup that toppled Robert Mugabe, was built on an unwritten agreement, Mnangagwa would take over then hand power to Chiwenga. But that arrangement, if it ever existed, appears broken beyond repair.

Supporters of Chiwenga, the powerful former military commander, believe he is the natural heir to Mnangagwa. Yet critics warn his track record offers little hope for reform. Writer Nomazulu Thata argues Chiwenga’s hands are stained with human rights abuses, from 1999 era to the bloody post-election crackdown of 2008.

“Looting, killings, and repression happened under his watch,” Thata wrote. “To expect change from Chiwenga is dangerous wishful thinking.”

Thata went further, comparing Chiwenga unfavourably with controversial businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei. “If Tagwirei is guilty of benefiting from Mnangagwa’s patronage, then Chiwenga is guilty of far worse crimes. He belongs in The Hague alongside Mnangagwa.”

Tagwirei, often described as Mnangagwa’s “godfather businessman,” is now caught in the succession crossfire. His sudden rise to the ZANU PF Politburo angered many, including Mutsvangwa, and he has become a convenient scapegoat for the party’s failures.

Chiwenga is reportedly pushing for Tagwirei’s arrest, but analysts say this has little to do with corruption. Instead, it reflects fears that Tagwirei’s influence poses a threat to the power transfer.

“If Tagwirei goes to prison, he may not come out alive,” one analyst warned. “This is about eliminating rivals ahead of the succession battle, not fighting corruption.”

The bitter Mnangagwa, Chiwenga rivalry has exposed the dark underbelly of Zimbabwe’s political culture. Allegations of looted diamond revenues, the plunder of soldiers’ wages during the DRC war, Operation Murambatsvina, and decades of election violence still hang over both men.

Chiwenga, critics argue, cannot claim moral high ground. If Mnangagwa enabled Tagwirei’s deals, then Chiwenga must answer for Marange diamonds and the bloodshed under his command.

As ZANU PF prepares for its national elective congress, provincial structures have already endorsed the 2030 agenda. To many observers, the congress will be a mere rubber stamp of decisions made behind closed doors.

“The script is familiar when it comes to Zimbabwe’s power matrix,” Thata reflected. “The comrade-to-comrade handover is an open secret. But this time, something went wrong. Chiwenga gave Mnangagwa an inch, and Mnangagwa snatched a mile.”

Mnangagwa’s absence from the UN summit signals more than a scheduling change. It is a warning flare of a leadership crisis at home. The unresolved rivalry between him and Chiwenga is no longer a whisper, it is the storm cloud shaping Zimbabwe’s next chapter.

History suggests ZANU PF succession fights rarely end quietly. Coup whispers, poisoning rumours, and factional wars have long been part of Zimbabwe’s political DNA.

Whether Mnangagwa clings to power beyond 2028 or Chiwenga forces his way to the top, one fact remains, Zimbabweans will likely pay the heaviest price.