FORMER Zanu PF youth leader Kudzanai Chipanga has landed a top ruling party post, his first since President Emmerson Mnangagwa re-admitted him to the party recently.
Chipanga was elected the Zanu PF Makoni district co-ordination committee secretary for local government during elections held in Rusape last week. He amassed 19 votes from the 22 members who voted during the elections.
In an interview with the NewsDay on Friday, Zanu PF Manicaland provincial chairperson Tawanda Mukodza, who was two weeks ago endorsed as the substantive leader of Manicaland, confirmed the development.
“Yes, it is true comrade Kudzanai Chipanga was elected as the Zanu PF Makoni district co-ordination committee secretary for local government and we are happy for our comrade,” he said.
“We also had co-options in our province, we are happy with the direction we are taking as a party and we are united as a party and this is what our President Emmerson Mnangagwa is always preaching.”
Sources recently told this publication that Mnangagwa was already mobilising party members as he is eyeing to lead the party beyond the expiry of his last term in 2028.
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“This is the start of the rise of comrade Kudzanai Chipanga. This is his first post since he was readmitted to the party. No one ever knows what will happen next,” said the source.
“Makoni district is not a normal district, it’s the biggest district in Manicaland province and in the country, Gokwe used to be the biggest before it was reduced, so the district plays a critical role in the country’s politics.”
Makoni district is home to former Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, former Agriculture minister Joseph Made, former Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Mandiitawepi Chimene. It is also the home of Zanu PF stalwart Patrick Chinamasa.
Chipanga was fired from Zanu PF in 2017 together with several other members aligned to the G40 cabal at the height of Zanu PF factional fights. He was re-admitted to the party under Mnangagwa’s instruction and they have been seen together at State House.
Chipanga is known for organising the famous one-million-men march by party youths to show solidarity with the late former President Robert Mugabe in 2016.