Mnangagwa
Fears
The
Hanging
Sword
Zimbabwean
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
plan
to
stay
in
power
beyond
his
2028
constitutional
limit
to
2030
is
unravelling
–
collapsing
–
as
Vice
President
Constantino
Chiwenga
breathes
on
his
neck,
a
senior
Zanu
PF
official
in
the
Top
Four
told
The
NewsHawks
this
evening.
With
Chiwenga
wielding
the
sword
of
damocles
over
Mnangagwa’s
head,
denoting
constant
and
imminent
danger,
the
President
privately
told
Chiwenga
during
the
Zanu
PF
Bulawayo
annual
conference
in
Bulawayo
he
will
not
extend
his
rule.
Mnangagwa
publicly
says
he
will
not
cling
to
power
because
he
is
a
“constitutionalist”,
but
allows
his
political
allies
and
supporters
to
campaign
for
him
to
stay
on.
Last
week,
The
President
and
his
backers
secured
a
Zanu
PF
conference
resolution
to
hang
onto
power
and
amend
the
constitution
for
him
to
extend
his
reign
to
2030,
although
Patrick
Chinamasa,
party
legal
affairs
secretary,
said
Mnangagwa
will
have
to
give
express
approval
for
that
to
be
implemented.
Chinamasa
said
the
resolution
is
impossible
to
implement
if
Mnangagwa
does
not
approve,
indicating
it
faced
Mount
Everest
in
the
form
of
two
constitutional
referenda
to
execute.
However,
Mnangagwa
is
mainly
anxious
about
what
happens
the
day
after
retirement
given
a
grisly
record
of
abuse
of
office,
human
rights
abuses
and
corruption
under
his
watch
–
the
past
catching
up
with
him,
tje
official
says.
Mnangagwa
was
the
enforcer
of
the
late
former
president
Robert
Mugabe’s
rule
and
now
under
his
own
administration.
Chiwenga
and
his
military-backed
faction
are
currently
reminding
Mnangagwa
and
his
cabal
how
they
came
to
power
–
through
a
military
–
and
that
they
may
go
out
through
the
same
door
if
they
persist
with
their
political
maneuvring
for
an
extended
stay
in
power
or
to
decide
to
field
a
rival
candidate
to
Chiwenga
in
the
elective
2027
congress.