THE ruling Zanu PF party has embarked on a nationwide campaign, holding inter-district meetings across the country to drum up support for the contentious push for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s stay in office until 2030, NewsDay can report.
The meetings, aimed at bolstering Mnangagwa’s prospects for a potential term extension, will also serve as a platform to identify and expose party members opposed to the move, a development that could plunge the party into chaos.
Mnangagwa’s current term ends in 2028.
Insiders, who spoke to NewsDay, claimed that Mnangagwa was secretly backing the campaign, championed by his loyalists who include Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Owen Ncube, Local Government minister Daniel Garwe, among others, to extend his rule.
The call for the extension of Mnangagwa’s presidential term is reportedly being resisted by party members loyal to Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who is said to be the front-runner in the race to succeed Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa has, however, said he would stand down at the end of his term in 2028 insisting that he is a constitutionalist.
In most of the meetings held over the weekend, Zanu PF provincial chairpersons took a synchronised approach, launching meetings with a uniform message.
The framing of the message, apart from exposing that they were coached, indicated a calculated push to build momentum for Mnangagwa’s potential term extension.
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The chairpersons urged party leaders to dismiss speculation that Mnangagwa had rejected calls to extend his term beyond 2028. Already, there are fierce divisions in the party over the plot said to be championed by Chiwenga’s allies who oppose the push.
Addressing the party’s provincial co-ordinating meetings, provincial chairpersons were pushing back against secretary for legal affairs Patrick Chinamasa’s assertion that extending Mnangagwa’s rule beyond 2028 will be difficult due to legal hurdles, including the need for a referendum.
Mashonaland East provincial chairperson Daniel Garwe challenged party leaders in the province to go a gear up in campaigning for the 2030 agenda.
“Let us cascade the message down as we conduct the inter-district meetings of the resolution. Let’s not give distorted resolutions as they came out. All resolutions were adopted.
“All wings’ chairpersons should be present. There are some talks about Chinamasa’s opinion that the President said when his term of office expires he would step down.
“Yes, he said so but we have a Constitution on one hand the vision on the other. The Constitution is about compliance and was drafted by the people, the same people who are saying we want the leader to remain in office.”
Garwe added: “Vision is from God that he should continue in office to build the country. So, the task of dealing with compliance with the Constitution is other people’s responsibility.”
Addressing party members in Chiredzi, Zanu PF Masvingo provincial chairperson, Robson Mavhenyengwa acknowledged the divisions within the party over the 2030 push but encouraged party leaders to explain the agenda well to the people.
“No one disputed the resolution that the President should remain in office at the conference,” Mavhenyengwa said.
“But there are some overzealous people who pretend to like the President when they don’t like him and are now distorting the message that the resolution was rejected.
“Chinamasa is our lawyer and he was just giving us legal advice on what we need to do on the 2030 agenda. The President never asked to extend his term of office but we are the ones asking him.”
The Harare provincial co-ordinating committee meeting was held in Highfield where party leaders also agreed to go ahead with the 2030 push.
The meeting in Harare, together with the one held in Mashonaland East, was, however, poorly attended.
Harare province was expected to hold another meeting in Chitungwiza yesterday, while in Masvingo, a similar meeting was planned for Bikita.
Several similar meetings were also planned in various districts across the country. But in an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Garwe denied that he was in the frontline of the 2030 agenda.
"It is year-end and as a party, we are bound to hold those meetings,” he said.
“There is nothing amiss. The main agenda is that we want to encourage farmers — because most farmers are Zanu PF, by the way — to adopt the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme.”
Meanwhile, insiders who attended the Harare PCC meeting, revealed that party officials signalled their intent to ensure that the constitutional framework is revisited, potentially opening the door for extension of Mnangagwa’s tenure indefinitely. The specific changes under consideration include proposals to amend or remove term limits that allows the President to go beyond 2028.
However, Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa said there was nothing sinister discussed during the PCC meetings.
“Zanu PF usually holds these meetings to strengthen our party, we discuss issues that are affecting our people and the current PCC meetings were no exception,” he said.
