HARARE – The ruling Zanu PF party is now consumed by internal power struggles and its members are openly vying for positions and engaging in bitter infighting. This comes after the party successfully decimated the opposition CCC party and left it in shambles and effectively silencing any meaningful political opposition.
Zanu PF national political commissar Munyaradzi Machacha has publicly admitted that the party is plagued by deep-rooted divisions, with members prioritizing personal ambitions over party loyalty.
“What you don’t know is that CCC [Citizens Coalition for Change] is not the enemy but the enemy behind the party. The enemy is America and its friends. They will be watching and waiting for us to fight. They celebrate when we fight,” Machacha said.
“That is why we have divisions and some fights, Zanu PF fails to win resoundingly due to the divisions that we would have created. Currently, the opposition is dead, we don’t know if it will resurrect, the only problem that is left is the division among us,” he added.
Machacha blamed the divisions on a thirst for power, saying members are rebelling against the party and vying for positions. He urged members to adhere to the party’s constitution and support elected candidates and warned that those who lost the 2023 primary elections but continue to seek positions will face disciplinary action.
“The primary elections ended last year, but we still have some people who are still trying to be elected after losing elections. Those people are busy disrupting the constituencies. We are not going to tolerate indiscipline and we are going to call all those culprits to a hearing and then suspend them,” he said.
The 2023 general elections were rocked by chaotic scenes that included allegations of rigging and bribery. The shadowy and CIO-linked group Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ) was also accused of influencing the outcome in favour of its preferred candidates.
Last week, the ruling Zanu PF Youth League national secretary Tinomuda Machakaire made a U-turn and called on his structures to stay away from succession talks. This followed a spirited campaign by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s allies to retain him in office beyond 2028.
A day earlier, Machakaire had made subtle remarks attacking Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who is reported to be a front runner in the race to succeed Mnangagwa.
Some Zanu PF structures have been holding choreographed provincial meetings to support a campaign for Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030. The youth league in the Midlands which is Mnangagwa’s backyard, is the author of that campaign.
Addressing a meeting in Goromonzi on Sunday last week, Machakaire tried to calm down the succession-induced fights within the party and said the youth league must stay guided on what the Zanu PF leadership says on the matter.
“We are coming out of an election only held last year; we don’t want youths who go on social media to talk about the succession of the President,” Machakaire said.
“It is not for our age as the youth to talk about the succession of the President. Let the leadership do that and as for us we are there to support their decisions. If we see you talking about the leadership of the country, you are a lost youth,” he said.
Machakaire called on the youth league to respect the party leadership.
“We are supposed to respect our leaders, even the youth that are in here let us respect the leadership that is there. I might be in the politburo, but my father remains my father. Even if I am a minister I should respect him because he is my elder. I know on social media there are people who instigate others to insult the party leadership. We do not insult the leadership on social media, we have ways that we use as youth to respect our leaders,” he said.
The internal power struggles within Zanu PF have intensified despite the demise of the original CCC party that was led by Nelson Chamisa and the Zanu PF Political Commissar has also admitted that opposition in Zimbabwe is now dead.
In January this year, Chamisa accused Zanu PF of “bastardizing” and “hijacking” his party through the abuse of state institutions. He also alleged that party members were corrupted by schemes of “personal aggrandisement, positions, title, benefits, trinkets and trappings of office.”
“I will have nothing to do with sewer politics… This is to officially, and under my hand, inform you fellow citizens of Zimbabwe and the world, that, with immediate effect, I no longer have anything to do with CCC,” Chamisa declared in January when he officially announced that he was no longer a member of the CCC party.
