ZANU PF is convening an emergency politburo meeting this Wednesday without Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, amid indications that businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei’s elevation to the central committee will be expedited.
Chiwenga, currently on a State visit to India, is reported to have blocked Tagwirei’s rise at a recent politburo sitting, citing breaches of party procedure.
Tagwirei, widely viewed by a faction loyal to President Emmerson Mnangagwa as his potential successor, had attempted to sit in on the central committee meeting after being co-opted by ZANU PF’s Harare provincial executive.
According to NewsDay, insiders say Wednesday’s gathering could prove a litmus test in the party’s simmering succession battle, with tensions mounting over the growing influence of the so-called “Zvigananda” faction, which is seeking to sideline Chiwenga’s camp ahead of the 2027 congress.
Mnangagwa loyalists are reportedly pushing for him to remain in office until 2030, creating space for a Tagwirei takeover and marginalising the former army commander.
The President, however, has repeatedly insisted he is a constitutionalist and will retire in 2028 when his current term ends.
Today’s meeting was announced in a memo dated 25 August 2025 by ZANU PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu.
Party insiders said it follows a weekend of intense political manoeuvring aimed at securing Tagwirei’s central committee seat and cementing the Zvigananda faction’s grip on the party.
The politburo member commented:
“There is a mad rush to hold this politburo meeting this Wednesday to sanitise this sham process in the absence of VP Chiwenga.
“They know Chiwenga and others would block it, so they are trying to exploit his diplomatic absence to force it through.”
NewsDay sources said the renewed push was mapped out during a strategic retreat in Japan, which took place soon after Mnangagwa’s trip to Madagascar where he handed over the SADC chairmanship.
He was accompanied on the trip by his chief secretary, Martin Rushwaya.
The ZANU PF official said:
“The Japan trip was a war council. They (loyalists) returned with a new playbook and what you are seeing is phase one, capturing the party’s structures entirely for Tagwirei.”
ZANU PF insiders said the party’s latest strategy became evident at the launch of the Land Tenure Implementation Committee’s title deeds programme in Mazowe on Monday, an event they described as more of a political rally than a policy rollout.
At the gathering, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi declared that President Mnangagwa would remain in power “until Jesus comes”.
Tagwirei also announced that title deed beneficiaries under his committee would qualify for an interest-free US$6,000 loan, repayable over seven years, to purchase an irrigation kit.
The ZANU PF official said:
“Unsuspecting Zimbabweans are being issued with these fake title deeds, and in the process, are being strong-armed into purchasing massively overpriced ‘irrigation kits’ from his companies, disguised as interest-free loans. It’s a masterpiece of predatory exploitation.”
