Mnangagwa gains edge as Mugabe stays on

Mnangagwa gains edge as Mugabe stays on

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• Mugabe to cleanse Zanu PF of 'crookish' officials

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By Torby Chimhashu

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will extend his term until 2010.

His decision to stay in power, which was endorsed by eight provinces at the just ended Zanu PF annual conference has put Emerson Mnangagwa in touch with his ambitions for the top job, sources said.

Delegates to Zanu PF conference left Goromonzi after a three day gathering where the ruling Zanu PF party haggled over the next presidential elections with rival camps expecting an outcome that would position them within the party leadership.

A faction loyal to Vice President Joice Mujuru, seen as a front runner to succeed Mugabe in Zanu PF, was keen to see Mugabe's back and senior officials were privately opposed to the move to extend Mugabe's rule by another two years.

While there was no resolution on the issue, Rural Housing Minister Emerson Mnangagwa who until the conference had been condemned to the lower echelons of Zanu PF, appeared the biggest beneficiary.

Mnangagwa, known by his supporters as Ngwena (crocodile) for his calculating political moves, mobilised eight provinces to support an extension of Mugabe's term, meaning that the veteran leader would perhaps consider him at the end of his tenure.

Sources in the Zanu PF Politburo said Mnangagwa has taken pole position to land the party's leadership although Mugabe still has to whip into line the Central Committee on Thursday where it is expected to approve his decision to stay on until 2010.

A Zanu PF source said: "Naturally the Mujuru camp is disappointed that it has been beaten to the game by Mugabe's machinations and to some extent Mnangagwa's dirty moves.

"The Central Committee will almost certainly endorse the eight provinces decision to support extension of President Mugabe's term. For Mujuru, it means there are huge hurdles ahead."

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), itself beset with internal rivalries, gleefully pointed out the deep divisions in Zanu PF and mocked senior party officials for failing to challenge Mugabe.

"What we are seeing at the Zanu PF Conference is a concoction of compromises brewed by Machiavellian characters that are all fronting broad smiles but meanwhile, deep down are drawing daggers pointing at each other," Tendai Biti, the secretary general of a faction of the MDC said.

Zanu PF Political Commissar Elliot Manyika told New Zimbabwe.com that the Central Committee would deal with Mugabe's term extension on Thursday, although observers say that would be a formality.

Manyika said: "The recommendations need approval in a constitutional amendment in Parliament. You will get the to know our position after the Central Committee meeting."

Mugabe, 83 next Febraury, told journalists that Zanu PF had reached "consensus" on proposals to hold the next presidential elections in 2010, when parliamentary elections are scheduled.

Mujuru, said sources, had hoped to garner support at the just ended conference so that she would eventually succeed the veteran former guerilla at the 2007 Conference to be held in her Mashonaland Central Province.

By recommending that Mugabe stays in office until 2010, the ruling party has thrown a lifeline to Mnangagwa, Mujuru's fiercest rival who has been fighting for his survival since he was outfoxed in the race for the vice presidency in 2004.

Civic groups have said the syncronisation of the presidential elections and parliamentary elections raises constitutional issues and therefore, there is need to have constitutional reforms.

Zanu PF say Zimbabweans rejected the constitutional reforms when they voted against a draft constitution during a national constitutional referendum in 2000.

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