Mpofu, who has been reassigned to the less influential position of Secretary for ICT, is widely regarded as one of Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga’s strongest allies in the ruling party’s intensifying succession battles. The demotion comes at a time when Zanu PF is once again consumed by factional rivalries reminiscent of the turbulence that led to the ouster of Robert Mugabe in November 2017. Since then, the party has been locked in a simmering power struggle over who will eventually succeed Mnangagwa, now in his eighties.
On one side stands Mnangagwa, who consolidated power after Mugabe’s fall, and on the other is Chiwenga, the former commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces who played a decisive role in bringing Mnangagwa to power. Tensions between the two men have escalated dramatically in recent weeks. Chiwenga reportedly presented an explosive anti-corruption dossier implicating Mnangagwa’s allies in the looting of billions of dollars, with particular focus on businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, widely seen as Mnangagwa’s preferred successor.
The dossier has rattled the party’s upper echelons and deepened mistrust between the two rival factions. Against this backdrop, Mnangagwa cancelled his scheduled trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly after receiving intelligence warnings that his allies could be arrested in his absence. Security sources said the Central Intelligence Organisation cautioned him that leaving the country could expose his camp to crippling blows from within the party and state apparatus. Mnangagwa’s demotion of Mpofu is being read as a direct attempt to weaken Chiwenga’s influence within Zanu PF, signalling just how fraught the succession battle has become.
