HARARE
–
Vice
President
Constantino
Chiwenga
is
not
a
shoo-in
to
be
Zanu
PF’s
next
leader
when
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
second
and
final
term
ends
in
2028,
according
to
party
spokesman
Christopher
Mutsvangwa.
Mutsvangwa
also
denied
the
existence
of
a
pact
between
Mnangagwa
and
Chiwenga,
that
the
latter
would
succeed
him
after
they
seized
power
through
a
military
coup
in
November
2017.
Mnangagwa
also
cannot
endorse
anyone
to
succeed
him,
Mutsvangwa
said
in
an
interview
published
on
Sunday,
because
“Zanu
PF
is
not
a
church
where
people
can
be
anointed,
and
the
president
is
not
the
Pope
or
the
Archbishop
of
Canterbury
who
anoint
priests.”
“If
you
think
you’re
worth
it,
go
and
sell
yourself
to
the
people.
If
you
clamour
for
anointment
by
the
president,
it
means
you
have
failed
the
litmus
test
of
being
a
Zanu
PF
leader,”
Mutsvangwa
told
The
Standard.
“Zanu
PF
is
not
a
secret
society
and
there
is
no
secret
agreement
on
succession.
People
are
going
to
vote
their
leaders
from
the
grassroots
level.”
Mutsvangwa
is
reported
to
quietly
harbour
ambitions
to
be
the
party’s
next
leader,
and
his
pointed
comments
criticising
Chiwenga’s
apparent
advantage
in
the
race
to
be
the
party’s
next
leader
will
put
him
on
a
collision
course
with
the
vice
president’s
allies.
Mutsvangwa
also
accused
Chiwenga,
a
retired
general,
of
being
a
reluctant
participant
in
the
2017
coup
that
ousted
former
President
Robert
Mugabe.
“Some
of
us
were
very
involved
in
this
thing
in
2017,”
he
said,
“We
know
where
the
allegiances
of
each
and
every
person
lay
at
that
particular
time
but
we
don’t
mention
it.”
He
appeared
to
suggest
that
Chiwenga
held
a
secret
meeting
with
Mugabe
while
the
coup
was
in
progress
as
he
wavered
on
whether
to
see
it
through.
“Everyone
who
goes
into
politics
and
has
ambitions
to
be
a
leader
must
pay
by
the
rules,
especially
of
a
revolutionary
democratic
party,”
Mutsvangwa
said.
“Zanu
PF
is
not
Makandiwa’s
church
where
he
can
have
himself,
his
wife
and
his
kids
and
his
followers
and
say
this
is
my
church.
President
Mnangagwa
is
an
elected
leader
of
a
revolutionary
democratic
party,
there
is
no
godly
anointment
in
Zanu
PF.”
Mutsvangwa
said
even
if
Mnangagwa
were
to
endorse
Chiwenga
as
his
successor,
this
would
be
resisted.
He
railed:
“You
want
to
become
a
leader
by
induction,
like
a
magnet
saying
‘because
I
am
a
piece
of
iron
I
must
also
be
magnetised
by
the
president?’
Even
if
the
president
said
there
is
a
secret
agreement,
we
would
censor
him.
“That’s
why
the
president
was
very
clear
on
his
tenure.
He
cleansed
himself.
Why,
when
he
has
done
his
job
very
well
as
a
democrat,
would
he
choose
to
exit
by
donating
the
seat
to
someone
else?”
Mnangagwa’s
supporters
have
been
urging
him
to
extend
his
term
beyond
the
two-term
constitutional
limit,
but
he
insisted
earlier
this
month
that
he
would
retire
when
his
second
and
final
term
ends.
Zanu
PF
last
held
its
elective
congress
in
December
2022
and
the
next
one
is
due
in
2027
when
Mnangagwa’s
successor
is
likely
to
emerge.
The
military
plays
a
major
role
in
Zanu
PF
internal
politics
and
could
still
make
a
decisive
intervention
in
support
of
its
favoured
candidate.