War veterans in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province have asked President Robert Mugabe to rein in Emmerson Mnangagwa, whom they accused of sowing divisions in the party as a vicious power struggle to succeed Mugabe intensifies.
Mnangagwa heads a faction of Zanu-PF that is embroiled in a mortal fight with a rival faction headed by former army commander Solomon Mujuru.
Mnangagwa’s quest for the country’s top job received a severe knock in December 2004 after he lost the vice-presidency of Zanu-PF and the country to Mujuru’s wife, Joice.
In a stinging letter to Mugabe that points to interesting behind-the-scenes manoeuvres to succeed the veteran leader, the war veterans accused Mnangagwa of sowing seeds of confusion in the province.
”Your Excellency, there are two distinct Zanu-PF factions in the Midlands. There is one whose allegiance is to Comrade Mnangagwa, which does not recognise the honourable Vice-President [Joice] Mujuru.
”Those who support Hon Mujuru and his Excellency, the President, are considered renegades,” the war veterans said in a letter that was shown to independent news service ZimOnline. ”It seems there is an urgent need to address these issues.”
The war veterans allege that a delegation from the province that went to see Mujuru earlier this year was being labelled ”reactionaries” by the Mnangagwa camp.
The former fighters attached a list of more than 25 senior Zanu-PF officials and state security agents who had been allocated farms for backing Mnangagwa’s bid for the presidency.
They also queried why Mnangagwa’s portrait, instead of Mugabe’s, was on display in the province’s public buildings and party offices, saying ”whatever this means is subject to conjecture”.
The former fighters also accused Mnangagwa of being involved in illegal gold-mining ventures in the province. ”It is an open secret that more than 90% of the small-scale mines in the province are directly or indirectly owned by Cde Mnangagwa and July Moyo,” said the former freedom fighters.
Moyo is a former Cabinet Minister and former Zanu-PF chairperson for the Midlands who was suspended by Mugabe in 2004 for seeking to scuttle Mujuru’s ascendancy to the vice-presidency.
Contacted for comment on Wednesday, Mnangagwa dismissed the allegations as ”rubbish”.
”I don’t comment on rubbish,” he said before switching off his phone.
Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba could not be reached for comment on the letter from the war veterans. — ZimOnline