ZANU PF spokesperson, Christopher Mutsvangwa has dismissed reports that suggest that some members of the party want Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to replace President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Reports say there is an unwritten agreement between Mnangagwa and his deputy which states that the former will be president for a single term and hand over to Chiwenga.
The agreement is said to have been entered into in 2017 before the demise of the late former President Robert Mugabe.
In an interview with The NewsHawks, Christopher Mutsvangwa said the congress, which will be the first to be held without Mugabe who died on 6 September 2019, would pass the test of democracy.
Asked to respond to reports that some Zanu PF members want Chiwenga to replace Mnangagwa in accordance with their “unwritten agreement”, Mutsvangwa said:
“We hear rumblings to that effect from those who are outside the membership of the party. Best if they can become party members so their rumblings can get the opportunity to be debated and addressed. Otherwise, if they feel genuinely aggrieved, the 2013 constitution of Zimbabwe allows for them to form their own parties in league with those fretting outside of party structures and membership. Zimbabwe is not a one-party state.”
Mutsvangwa’s remarks come as Sybeth Musingezi, a ZANU PF card-carrying member, filed an urgent High Court application seeking a prohibitory order to interdict the ruling party’s coming congress.
He instists Mnangagwa is illegitimate since he came to power following an unlawful special session of ZANU PF’s central committee.
However, Mutsvangwa said next month’s congress will still go ahead irrespective of the court bid.