ver Mugabe’s succession.
If Msika were to go, whoever is appointed to his post, especially if that person is former parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, would significantly alter the balance of power in Zanu (PF) and strongly challenge second Vice-President Joyce Mujuru to succeed Mugabe.
“He (Msika) told us that the President (Mugabe) had advised him that if he were to step down that would spark volatility in Zanu (PF) with former ZAPU members also sucked into the succession battle, fighting over Msika’s job,” said a source close to the family of the Vice-President. The source did not want his name published because he was speaking without the blessings of either Msika or his family.
It was not possible to get a comment on the matter from Msika with a secretary in his office saying he was out of the office on business. Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba was also not available for comment.
Our source said the family of the ailing Msika had pressured him to quit active politics over fears the strenuous routine of his work could only worsen his health.
Msika is said to have met Mugabe a few days before the President went to the African Union summit held in Gambia last month. He asked for permission to retire from his government job but remain Zanu (PF) vice-president, but Mugabe said he wanted time to think over the request.
“Msika later said the request had been turned down after Mugabe returned from Gambia. The President felt that he (Msika) was a stabilising factor in both the government and the (ruling) party. He is now spending most of his time at home and will probably just remain a figurehead vice-president until Mugabe lets him go.
Msika became vice-president following the death in 1999 of former ZAPU leader and pioneer of Zimbabwe’s 1970s struggle for independence, Joshua Nkomo.
Nkomo had been one of Mugabe’s two vice-presidents under a 1987-unity deal that saw ZAPU swallowed by Zanu (PF).
The merger of the two political parties followed major differences that saw Mugabe send a crack battalion of North Korean-trained soldiers in Zimbabwe’s Midlands and Matabeleland provinces ostensibly to crush an armed insurrection against his rule.
Ironically Nkomo died in office after Mugabe barred him from retiring because of similar concerns his departure could destabilise the new united ZANU (PF) and the government.
At present most analysts recognise Mujuru, who is the wife of powerful former army general Solomon Mujuru, as the front runner for the top job when both Mugabe and Msika step down as expected in 2008.
The succession battle in ZANU (PF) however remains far from over with party insiders saying Mnangagwa, ditched by Mugabe at the eleventh hour last year in favour of Mujuru, remained a strong contender for the top post.
But the departure of Msika – a former ZAPU vice-president – would add a new
dimension to the succession question with former members of that party fighting among themselves to take over his post which under the unity agreement should be reserved for former members of the defunct party. – ZimOnline
Post published in: News