Mugabe faces stiff leadership test at party congress

By Henry Makiwa
12 October 2007

Robert Mugabe for the first time will walk into the Zanu PF special congress meeting in December uncertain of an assurance that his candidature in next year’s election will be guaranteed, because of the recent succession squabbles within his party.

Mugabe wants the congress to endorse him as the party’s presidential election candidate but faces opposition from the rival camps, one headed by retired army commander General Solomon Mujuru and the other by former security chief, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

It is understood all but two of the ten Zanu PF provinces are against retaining Mugabe as party leader at the end of year congress. The other eight provinces are split between Mnangagwa and Mujuru.
The widening rifts within Zanu PF resurfaced on Thursday when war veterans in Bulawayo staged a march to support Mugabe, in open defiance of Zanu PF leaders in the region. Cracks had been exposed in the past three months when Mugabe’s spokesman and loyalist George Charamba instructed the state-controlled media to block coverage of Zanu PF politicians opposed to Mugabe. The move was meant to ensure that Mugabe remained in the public spotlight as the only capable leader to rule Zimbabwe.
Political commentator John Makumbe says Mugabe faces his “Waterloo” this December and looks set to bow out.

Makumbe said: “Mugabe has been amassing the support of war veterans but they are of no use at the special congress because they do not vote, or endorse his leadership at such a forum. Only the ten provincial executives have the power to vote and at the moment he only has the support of two.”
He added: “It does appear that Mugabe faces the stiffest challenge to his leadership since taking over at the State House because all these guys have been waiting for too long to assume the reigns of power.”
Earlier this week, Zanu PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira told the ruling party’s media mouthpiece, The Voice newspaper, that the presidential position and that of the two vice presidents will be contested at the special congress pencilled in for December 12-14.