FORMER Zanu PF youth leader Kudzanai Chipanga’s stock continues to rise in the ruling Zanu PF structures after he was elevated to another influential position as President Emmerson Mnangagwa pushes with his 2030 bid.
Chipanga was on Tuesday last week elected the Zanu PF Makoni district co-ordination committee (DCC) vice-chairperson in Rusape.
The new development comes after he was elected secretary for local government when he amassed 19 votes from the 22 members who voted during the elections, his first since Mnangagwa re-admitted him to the party.
On Tuesday last week, Zanu PF members wanted Chipanga to become the DCC chairperson but the former youth leader shocked the supporters by nominating Phineas Koro, a war veteran, to become the chairperson.
Koro, who was the acting DCC chairperson, was endorsed as the substantive leader and will be deputised by Chipanga.
“People wanted Chipanga to be the chairperson but they were surprised when he [Chipanga] nominated a war veteran Phineas Koro, who has been working in an acting capacity to be substantive arguing that Koro assisted in delivering President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s win in last year’s elections,” the sources said.
“People were disappointed after Chipanga threw a joker by nominating Koro. What we saw today is that Chipanga is not greedy for positions and I think he believes that you can work from any position.”
Makoni is the biggest district in Manicaland province and plays a significant role in the politics of the country.
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In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Zanu PF Manicaland provincial chairperson Tawanda Mukodza, who was two weeks ago endorsed as the substantive leader said there were co-options in Makoni district which were being led by the commissariat department.
He, however, said he was still waiting for a report from the district.
“There were co-options in Makoni district co-ordination committee but this is led by the commissariat department and I am not yet in a position to comment over the matter as I am yet to get a report after all this is our internal affairs,” he said.
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.
Makoni district is home to former Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, former Agriculture minister Joseph Made and 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 recently readmitted to the party.
Chipanga is known for organising the famous one-million-man march by party youths to show solidarity with the late former President Robert Mugabe in 2016.
