ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will be reinstated as leader of Zanu-PF, senior party members decided this week ahead of the political organisation’s five-yearly congress, which officially begins tomorrow.
The politburo decided on Monday their long-standing president – Mr Mugabe (85) has led the party for 35 years – should retain control for another five years, endorsing him as the sole candidate for the party presidency.
“We deliberated on the nomination of the presidium [the top four positions] and endorsed the nomination of President Mugabe as the party’s president and first secretary,” party spokesman Ephraim Masawi told the state-run Herald newspaper on Tuesday.
While the process of anointing Mr Mugabe for another term appeared to go smoothly, observers say a fierce power struggle is under way between factions that want to take control when he retires or dies.
The rival factions have been jostling for the top posts in Zanu-PF’s presidium ahead of congress, as there has been no consensus on who should take over when Mr Mugabe eventually vacates his position. Mr Mugabe has also steadfastly refused to say when he will step down as party president.
Vice-president Joice Mujuru (54) and her husband, ex-army commander Solomon, are viewed as the most powerful people in the party after Mr Mugabe and are the leaders of one faction, while a second group is led by defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is of a different ethnic group.
Mr Mnangagwa’s faction, which has also been seeking senior party positions, has accused the Mujuru group of trying to ensure the party presidency goes to one of Mr Mugabe’s Zezuru ethnic group.
It currently appears like the Mujuru faction has gained the upper hand, as Ms Mujuru was nominated for reinstatement as a party vice-president by the politburo, and Mr Mnangagwa’s faction was left empty handed.
Former party chairman John Nkomo was given the other vice-presidency position, and ambassador to South Africa Simon Moyo was chosen as party chairman.
All four positions are expected to be ratified at the congress.
For the majority of his reign Mr Mugabe has kept his rivals at bay by operating a political patronage system that ensured he kept a tight grip on Zanu-PF. But his absolute control was rattled in March last year when his party lost the parliamentary election to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
He also lost the first round of the presidential election and was only returned to power after widespread state-sponsored violence against Mr Tsvangirai’s supporters prompted the then opposition leader to pull out of the head-to-head, which allowed Mr Mugabe to claim victory.
The party’s recent setbacks at the polls have had a destabilising effect internally and raised questions about what will happen once Mr Mugabe is gone. Observers say Zanu-PF may well disintegrate due to infighting when that time arrives, which would make the real winners the MDC. The former opposition party has been involved in a powersharing deal with Zanu-PF since last February, but it accuses Mr Mugabe’s group of not adhering to the details of the deal.