HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa was drawn into Zanu PF’s intensifying factional battles on Saturday after he intervened to stop an event in Manicaland at which his investment adviser Paul Tungwarara was scheduled to speak.
Tungwarara, a close ally of Zanu PF politburo member and party spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa, has angered supporters of petroleum tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei after previously describing him as unfit to be president at an earlier event in Manicaland.
Tagwirei is widely seen as harbouring ambitions to succeed Mnangagwa, whose second and final term ends in 2028, with the ruling party’s elective congress in 2027 expected to shape the succession battle.
In response to Tungwarara’s remarks, Tagwirei’s backers – led by Zanu PF political commissar Munyaradzi Machacha – moved behind the scenes to block a scheduled meeting in Mutare on Sunday, where Tungwarara was due to preside over the disbursement of funds under the Presidential Economic Empowerment Revolving Fund.
The fund, which allocates US$25,000 per constituency for development projects, is officially presented as a government initiative but is administered along partisan lines.
Tungwarara was expected to address party structures in Mutare, where the remaining three Manicaland constituencies – Dangamvura, Chikanga and Mutare Central – were due to receive their allocations.
On January 23, Machacha announced the “temporary suspension” of Tungwarara’s programme, saying Zanu PF secretary general Jacob Mudenda would issue new guidelines “on the distribution, utilisation and management of the fund”.
Tungwarara subsequently mobilised senior Zanu PF officials in Manicaland to seek Mnangagwa’s intervention and overturn Machacha’s decision. However, Mnangagwa is said to have been reluctant to overrule his political commissar, taking the view that no prejudice would arise from a temporary suspension of the programme pending deliberations by the Zanu PF politburo.
Emboldened by the outcome, Machacha issued a second directive to the Manicaland provincial leadership on Saturday, saying Mnangagwa had “directed me to inform you that the Presidential Economic Empowerment Programme scheduled for Mutare tomorrow be postponed indefinitely”.
Machacha added that Mudenda would advise on the framework under which the programme would eventually be relaunched.
With the backing of First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa and significant financial resources, Tagwirei has emerged as a key figure in the succession race, alongside Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
Mutsvangwa, meanwhile, has used his position as party spokesperson to advance his own political interests. His public appearances with Tungwarara in Manicaland, and his visible approval of Tungwarara’s attacks on Tagwirei, underscored the alignment between the two men and deepened the factional rifts within Zanu PF. – ZimLive
