The ruling Zanu-PF party has announced a sweeping reshuffle of its top leadership raising fresh questions about the succession battle within the liberation movement.
In a statement released on Tuesday, party spokesperson and Secretary for Information and Publicity, Christopher Mutsvangwa said President and First Secretary Cde. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa had exercised his constitutional mandate under Article 9, Sections 65 and 67 of the party constitution to reorganise the Politburo.
Among the key changes, Treasurer General Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda has been appointed Secretary General of the party while former Secretary for Legal Affairs Patrick Anthony Chinamasa, has taken over as Treasurer General.
Outgoing Secretary General Obert Moses Mpofu has been redeployed as Secretary for Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Ziyambi Ziyambi previously in charge of ICT, now heads the Legal Affairs desk.
“These changes are effective immediately and underscore the party’s enduring commitment to its policies, tenets and ethos,” said Mutsvangwa.
He added that the reorganisation reflects Zanu-PF’s dedication to the “Permanent Zimbabwe Revolution in service to the people and the nation of Zimbabwe.”
Political analysts say the reshuffle could be linked to internal manoeuvring ahead of the next month’s People’s Conference widely viewed as a crucial step in determining Mnangagwa’s eventual successor.
“Appointments at this level are rarely just administrative, they often signal the consolidation of power and the positioning of key allies,” said one political commentator in Harare.
He further noted that the redeployment of long-serving officials and the elevation of trusted lieutenants could either stabilise the party’s internal structure or intensify factional rivalries in the lead-up to future elections.
The move comes amid rising speculation over succession dynamics within Zanu-PF as senior figures jockey for influence in a party that has dominated the country’s politics since independence in 1980.
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