ZANU PF factionalism has disrupted the party’s cell verification exercise amid fights to control structures by camps linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
Some Zanu PF leaders across several provinces told NewsDay on Friday last week that they were yet to complete the cell restructuring exercise well after the deadlines.
The cell restructuring exercise started in June and was expected to run until July 17.
“There is a deliberate attempt to delay the cell restructuring exercise because there is an issue of factionalism in the party,” one party member said.
“If you control the structures then you will control the party; factions linked to the President and Chiwenga are fighting to control the structures and this has disrupted the whole exercise.”
Zanu PF says the cell verification exercise is necessary to take stock of the party membership.
The structures are key in deciding who takes control of the party during the next elective congress set for 2027.
“Most of the provinces have failed to meet deadline of cell restructuring. They have failed to meet two deadlines, after the cell restructuring they will eventually go to the branch and district paving way for the provincial elections,” sources told NewsDay.
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Party officials also said shortage of resources such as computers had slowed the verification exercise.
“The commissariat wants the exercise to be computerised yet we do not have computers. This is a difficult exercise for us and this is the reason we are struggling to end the cell exercise so that we can move to the next stage,” another source said.
Mnangagwa is enjoying good support in the current structures, some party sources claimed.
The sources also said the delay in cell restructuring meant that there would be no district co-ordination committee elections this year.
Zanu PF director of information Farai Marapira yesterday said the cell restructuring exercise was not a one-day event.
“There is nothing like that,” he said. “There are no factions; the factions are in the media not in the party. Our cell verification process is not a one-day thing it’s an on-going process and it is going on very well.”
He later directed this publication to national political commissar Munyaradzi Machacha who is in charge of the cell restructuring exercise.
Machacha has not been available for comment since Friday last week. He was said to be attending several meetings.
Chiwenga is reported to be a front-runner to succeed the incumbent. Mnangagwa’s constitutionally mandated two terms end in 2028, although there has been a push by Zanu PF organs to extend his tenure. Mnangagwa said he would vacate office when his term ends in 2028.
