ZANU PF Legal Secretary Patrick Chinamasa has said controversial businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei is now a member of the party’s Central Committee and the matter is “over and irreversible” Tagwirei’s co-option into the Central Committee has dragged on, with a faction within the ruling party reportedly opposed to his endorsement into the influential organ In a statement posted on social media, Chinamasa said, “The Zanupf Department of Legal Affairs is relieved and takes note that the furore/controversy/confusion/wrangle/much ado about nothing/social media hype/misinformation/disinformation that surrounded Harare Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) co-option of Cde Kudakwashe Tagwirei into the Zanu PF Central Committee is now over and irreversibly settled “From the outset, it was difficult to understand the source of the problem
Our Harare PCC convened on Monday, 31 March 2025, and voted to recommend the cooption of Cde Tagwirei into the Central Committee “The Province addressed the letter of recommendation to the Zanupf Secretary General, Cde Dr Obert Moses Mpofu The letter was copied to the Departments of the Commissariat and Legal Affairs, amongst others.”
The confirmation by Chinamsa is in contradiction with the ZANU PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa’s remarks earlier this month that Tagwirei’s “bribe” would not work in the party
Tagwirei’s admission into this elite structure is being widely interpreted as part of a long-term strategy to position him for a future presidential bid, setting him on a collision course with other factions, particularly those aligned with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga The ZANU PF benefactor has been viewed as exploiting his proximity to President Emmerson Mnangagwa to push his leadership agenda Chinamasa acknowledged that the co-option of Tagwirei has been divisive in the ruling party “So the controversy surrounding Cde Tagwirei’s co-option into the Central Committee surprises me and took me completely off guard
Given Cde Tagwirei’s commitment to Zanupf and his track record in the service of the Party, the somewhat negative publicity and narrative surrounding his co-option into the Central Committee is undeserved “I have been a member of the Zanupf Central Committee continuously and without break since December 1987, and a member of the Zanupf Politburo since the year 2000 to date, and I can state unequivocally that throughout this long period of nearly 38 years as Central Committee or as Politburo, we have never had to debate, let alone discuss, PCC recommendations of cooptions into the Central Committee We always treated such recommendations as fait accompli “The cooption of Cde Tagwirei is the first ever to be the subject of discussion and social media commentaries
The only explanation why the Tagwirei cooption has attracted such controversy may be because there are people out there who, for reasons best known to themselves, have an axe to grind,” said Chinamasa.
Source: Newzimbabwe
