ZIMBABAWE's Information Minister, Jenfan Muswere was this Wednesday assigned an unenviable task of issuing an official rebuttal of ongoing internecine strife pitting President Emmerson Mnangagwa against his deputy, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga over succession.
As Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF henchmen plot his bid for a third presidential term, Chiwenga is reportedly scheming, alongside his trusted military allies, to thwart the unconstitutional move, which has widened the rift between the country's most powerful figures.
Chiwenga, ahead of second VP Kembo Mohadi, reportedly fancies himself Mnangagwa's successor whose second and final term expires in 2028, but the President's faction wants him to stay until 2030 ostensibly to fulfil programmes spelt out in the Vision 2030 blueprint.
Addressing the media in Harare, Muswere said there was no vacancy in the highest office, hence the party was going ahead with the 21st National People's Conference in Bulawayo as planned.
"The ruling party, Zanu PF, will be conducting the National People's Conference under the theme: 'Mechanise, Modernise And Grow The Economy Towards Vision 2030', the conference is not an elective conference or an elective congress.
"The national chairman and Defence minister (Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri) has clearly spelt out the agenda, theme and focus," said Muswere.
He added that Mnangagwa was democratically voted into the State House in 2023 polls while his position in the party as first secretary was also gotten through constitutional means.
"So, effectively there is no vacancy in the Office of The President, in that the government and party leadership is properly constituted in terms of the respective constitutions," the minister said.
He further claimed there are no fights in the presidium, despite the evidently tense atmosphere that prevailed during Tuesday's Politburo meeting in Harare, where Mnangagwa and Chiwenga sat side-by-side but without exhibiting the usual cordiality.
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"There is singleness in unity, love, comradeship and harmony in the presidium and government.
"Thus, there is no discord in the cockpit and that at the present moment, the Government of Zimbabwe is seized with ensuring that poverty is alleviated and that there is a better future for the people of Zimbabwe."
All stakeholders were urged to rally behind Mnangagwa "as he spearheads and shepherds the nation towards an upper middle-income society by the year 2030."
The information minister warned those peddling 'fiction' on the Zanu PF leadership tussles to stand ready to face the wrath of the law.
"We remain unfazed by overzealous misdirected energies of half-wits on social media, who wish to sow seeds of divisions. There is no room for theatrics and manufacturing of fiction through imaginary mandates, and those bent on misinforming the people shall be dealt with in terms of the law," said Muswere.
