Fireworks at war vets congress

The congress has been twice postponed after succession battles between those perceived to be aligned to the Emmerson Mnangagwa camp against that of Retired General Solomon Mujuru. Mnangagwa wants to replace the soon to be 85 year old Robert Mugabe, if and when he retires, believed by many to be unlikely.

On the other hand, Mujuru wants his wife, Joyce to succeed Mugabe. Sources in the war veterans body said the congress would begin with accreditation on Friday followed by congress reports and elections while Sunday will see delegates departing.

Jabulani Sibanda, who is believed to be trusted by Mugabe after he dragooned Zanu PF heavy weights to support Mugabe’s candidature when he faced increasing calls to step down is believed to enjoy Mugabe’s support. Mugabe is the association’s patron.

“The fact of the matter is that Mugabe wants to go into the next election with a ‘united’ Zanu PF including the war veterans body and we are likely to see the retention of most of the executive members. That is why the Zanu PF congress held recently has effectively not been concluded as the Politburo has not been announced as Mugabe and Zanu PF want to maintain a semblence of unity,” an official in the war veterans body told he Zimbabwean.

Congresses for the Zanu PF Youth and Women’s Assembly were marred by violence as the two warring camps sought to establish dominance over their rivals. While Mnangagwa is perceived to have won the youth congress match, the tables were turned against him after the women’s elections were reportedly rigged in favour of the Mujuru camp, a trick pulled by Mugabe in order to keep the party ‘united’.

Mujuru had the last laugh in elections to choose the new party vice president and national chairman after his allies, John Nkomo and Simon Moyo romped to victory. However, control over the war veterans, a reserve army, is seen as crucial by either camp because of their history of unleashing violence and intimidation to get their way.