The ZANU PF party in Mashonaland East Province has called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to stay in office beyond 2028, despite his recent announcement that he will retire at the end of his current and final five-year term.
During a provincial inter-district conference held in Goromonzi on Sunday, senior ZANU PF officials claimed that all the districts in Mashonaland East had expressed their desire for Mnangagwa to remain in power.
Addressing the meeting, ZANU PF Mashonaland East provincial chairperson Daniel Garwe said the province wants Mnangagwa to continue serving as president due to the infrastructure developments he has implemented since 2018.
Garwe requested that Munyaradzi Machacha, the ZANU PF national Political Commissar who officiated the meeting, convey this message from Mashonaland East to President Mnangagwa.
The provincial party’s call for Mnangagwa to stay in office beyond his announced retirement date contradicts the president’s earlier statement and raises questions about the potential for an extension of his term or a third run for the presidency. Said Garwe (via The Herald):
After seeing the positive results in terms of developments that are being done across the whole province, we agreed as a province that President Mnangagwa should stay.
Each district is being developed, from Nyamapanda to Chikomba, there is development. Yes, President Mnangagwa said in Mutare that he will rest after his second term, but we are now appealing to him; we are persuading him to stay beyond 2028.
We are sending you Cde Machacha to our President; please tell him that your children in Mashonaland East province are asking you to stay in office beyond 2028.
Tell him that we want him to be with us till 2030, as the First Secretary for ZANU PF, as the President of our party and as the President of Zimbabwe.
We believe in our God and we will always pray to Him. We have faith in our God and also our President.
We love our President. His leadership capabilities are outstanding; hence we call for his stay. So PC (political commissar) please take our request to the President and kindly come back with the response.
In response to the request from Garwe, the party’s national Political Commissar, Munyaradzi Machacha, promised to convey their message to Mnangagwa. He said:
I will carry the message and deliver it without adding or subtracting anything. I promise you that. There is always joy when a leader is being recognised for his good deeds.
You know it is hard to lead but when the people you lead plead for you to continue leading them, it brings joy.
According to political analyst Brighton Mutebuka, there is a looming “final showdown” brewing between Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga over the control of the ruling ZANU PF party and the Zimbabwean government.
The speculation around a potential power struggle between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga has been a subject of much debate within Zimbabwe’s political landscape.
Chiwenga, who was the army commander when the military intervened to force former President Robert Mugabe’s resignation in 2017, reportedly had a pact with Mnangagwa that the latter would hand over power to him when his term(s) came to an end.
This perceived arrangement between the two top ZANU PF leaders has fueled speculation about an impending power struggle, as Mnangagwa nears the end of his current and final five-year term, while Chiwenga may be positioning himself to succeed him.
More: Pindula News