Succession issue suppressed at ZANU-PF congress

ZANU-PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and senior party functionaries are manipulating the ruling party’s forthcoming congress agenda to exclude “the succession issue”, the ‘Zimbabwe Independent’ reported on Thursday. The move is designed to protect President Robert Mugabe from internal challenges, party sources told the newspaper.

Mutasa and the congress secretariat were suppressing the succession issue which was stirring within the ranks of the party. Pronouncements by senior officials suggest a determination to suffocate the issue, insiders said. The newspaper reported that party luminaries were working flat out to ensure that Mugabe emerges without challenge after the December 13-16 gathering.

In an interview on Thursday, Mutasa insisted the succession issue would not be discussed “whatever the views of other party members”. He said the agenda had already been formulated and there was no room for the issue to be included. “Let me say it again that the succession issue will not be discussed,” Mutasa said.