Soldiers stopped Zanu PF youths from displaying placards promoting the ED2030 agenda during the burial of national hero Tshinga Dube in Harare last week amid indications that the divisive campaign to push President Emmerson Mnangagwa to hang on to power has lost traction.
As has become the norm at national events, Zanu PF youths took nicely designed placards with the ED2030 message to Dube’s burial that was presided over by Mnangagwa last Wednesday.
They were, however, told to stop displaying them by soldiers at the Heroes Acre, it has emerged.
Soldiers that were in the crowd are said to have approached some of the youths with the placards and told them not to display them.
“What happened at the Heroes Acre at Dube’s burial is unusual, but it could be an indication that the 2030 campaign is making some people uncomfortable,” said a Zanu PF official from Harare province.
Dube, a former Zimbabwe Defence Industries boss and a retired colonel, was critical of the campaign to have Mnangagwa stay in power beyond the two terms allowed in the constitution.
He was also very critical of the late Robert Mugabe’s refusal to retire in the months that led to the coup that eventually toppled him in 2017.
A senior Zanu PF official said the ED2030 campaign had lost steam because of strong opposition from within, especially among securocrats.
- Corruption Watch: Get scared, 2023 is coming
- Corruption Watch: Get scared, 2023 is coming
- Letters: Ensuring Africa’s food security through availability of quality seeds
- Is military's involvement in politics compatible with democracy?
Keep Reading
“We wait to see what will happen at the conference in Bulawayo very soon,” the official said.
“However, my assessment is that it has lost steam because it was rejected by the securocrats.”
Zanu PF will hold its annual conference in Bulawayo next week.
War veterans, who are a key constituency in Zanu PF, are also becoming increasingly vocal against attempts to tamper with the constitution to change the presidential term limits.
Bulawayo war veterans association’s provincial executive chairperson Dominic Mhlanga and secretary Mathias Mbambo last week issued a statement criticising the 2030 agenda.
“It badly affects the value of our pluralism," the two said in the statement, which accused those behind the campaign of pushing selfish interests.
“It is of paramount importance that these rogue elements be told that tampering with the constitution of the country is equal to tampering with the fundamentals of our liberation struggle.”
Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Own Ncube, a Mnangagwa ally, is one of the ministers that have been publicly pushing the 2030 agenda.
The Bulawayo war veterans’ executive said Zimbabweans must unite to resist attempts to amend the constitution.
“Let this be a reminder to all Zimbabweans to be vigilant and guard against any attempt to deluge these values by a selected few individuals just for their selfish interests, against the whole nation.
“Personal ambitions should not supersede the national interests,” the statement said.
“The residential term extension debate must be put to rest.
“It boggles the mind to find some individuals advocating for the change of the constitution, which will further plunder national resources that may be directed to the welfare of all Zimbabweans.”
There are three war veterans factions led by Christopher Mutsvangwa, Moffat Marashwa and Andrease Mathibela.
The Mathibela camp has opposed the 2030 agenda, and vowed to mobilise Zimbabweans to block any plans for Mnangagwa to remain in office beyond his constitutional term limits
In some quarters, the 2030 agenda is seen as an attempt to stop Vice President Constantino Chiwenga from succeeding Mnangagwa when his term ends in 2028.
The chasm in the ruling party over Mnangagwa’s succession has become self-evident.
In pointed remarks, former Zanu PF political commissar Engelbert Rugeje told mourners at the funeral of the late Gibson Mashingaidze’s mother last week in Masvingo that former fighters of the liberation struggle will continue to support and handhold each other.
The statement has been circulated in most Zanu PF groups, suggesting that it was a subtle admission that the war veterans and soldiers are against Chiwenga’s perceived persecution.
