THE ongoing factional fights within Zanu PF have reached a crescendo with party functionaries positioning themselves to either consolidate their power or oust incumbent officeholders before the expiry of their tenure.
Chief among the reasons Vice President Constantino Chiwenga's camp is plotting President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his acolytes' removal is endemic corruption and the tanking economy, which has seen the value of the new Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency plummet against the US$. This has led to growing public anger.
Tiff within the ruling establishment was confirmed by a terse letter authored by Zanu PF national political commissar, Munyaradzi Machacha, warning party members elected into influential party organs, the District Coordinating Committees (DCCs), against fomenting divisions.
The grassroots structures are influential in voting for presidential nominees when the party goes to Congress.
The letter dated October 2, 2024, addressed to all Zanu PF provincial chairpersons, laid bare the modus operandi of factionalists angling to annihilate one another.
"The Politburo has observed with great concern the wayward behaviour of some members of the DCCs.
"The following issues have been observed...members of the DCC have resurrected the role previously played by the 'old dissolved DCCs' of becoming the King Makers," said Machacha.
He also noted the involvement of DCCs in making executive decisions outside their mandate, saying this is contrary to the party Constitution, Article 13 section 154 on the powers and functions of the DCCs, which states that "the DCC shall not make any executive description. All executive decisions shall be referred to the Provincial Executive Committee and Provincial Coordinating Committee."
Some DCCs were fingered for sidelining certain members in their quest to consolidate power.
"The tendency of DCCs to hold meetings and only invite the twenty-two (22) elected members leaving out the leadership in the district. This is contrary to the party Constitution, Article 13 Section 143, which outlines membership of the DCC beyond elected members," the national commissar charged.
In a bid to shut out adversaries, some structures are calling for meetings on dates and times that deliberately prevent other members from attending, for example during the week when some are at work.
Machacha also took aim at DCC members fixated on campaigning for parliamentary and other posts when it's not election season.
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"....disruptive behaviour by some members of the DCC, who are already on the ground campaigning for aspiring candidates and demonising sitting National Assembly members.
"DCCs, therefore, be warned to desist from this reactionary conduct. Going forward, the party will take stern measures against perpetrators through severe disciplinary measures," Machacha said.
In 2020, eight years after their disbanding for fuelling factionalism, DCCs were resuscitated under the watch of then-national commissariat secretary Victor Matemadanda.
Dissolving DCCs, ostensibly at the behest of then-presidential hopeful and vice president Joice Mujuru, was viewed by commentators to have swung the balance of power in her favour and away from rival contender Mnangagwa, who was then a mere minister.
Experts say there was no real winner between Mujuru and Mnangagwa in the DCC saga, where centralisation of party power triumphed over decentralisation and modernisation. As a result, the Presidium, Politburo and Central Committee remain key power brokers.
