HARARE – Zanu PF legal secretary Patrick Chinamasa on Sunday claimed controversial businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei is now a member of the party’s Central Committee, brushing aside internal dissent in a move that has laid bare growing factional tensions within the party.
The Central Committee, Zanu PF’s highest decision-making body outside of the Congress, plays a crucial role in determining party leadership and national policy direction.
Tagwirei’s admission into this elite structure is being widely interpreted as part of a long-term strategy to position him for a future presidential bid—setting him on a collision course with other factions, particularly that aligned with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
In a statement released on Sunday, Chinamasa said Tagwirei had been nominated by the Harare Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) on March 31, 2025, and that his co-option was formally approved by the Politburo at two separate meetings—on July 2 and again on July 30.
“Cde Kudakwashe Tagwirei’s co-option into the Central Committee was recommended by the Harare PCC… This recommendation was adopted by the Politburo and confirmed again under the chairmanship of Vice President Chiwenga,” said Chinamasa. “The matter is irreversibly settled.”
The statement was unusually direct, suggesting high-level anxiety within the party over the growing backlash. Chinamasa characterised the criticism as a product of social media “misinformation and disinformation,” dismissing it as an attempt to undermine a committed party loyalist.
“There is no rule in the Zanu PF constitution which debars a committed and loyal party member, such as Cde Tagwirei, from being recommended for co-option into the Central Committee,” he said. “The negative publicity is undeserved.”
Chinamasa also pointed out that Tagwirei was not the only individual co-opted by the Politburo. Others included mines deputy minister Polite Kambamura, Christine Gwati, Joseph Serima, and Collen Ndebele—none of whom have attracted similar controversy.
Chinamasa’s statement was a direct rebuttal to Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa, who just weeks ago publicly claimed that Tagwirei “does not qualify” to be in the Central Committee. Mutsvangwa did not elaborate on the criteria Tagwirei allegedly failed to meet, but his comments were widely viewed as reflective of a broader resistance to the businessman’s rising political profile.
This very public contradiction between senior party officials has further exposed the deepening fault lines within the ruling party as it prepares for a potential transition of power in the coming years.
According to multiple sources within Zanu PF, Tagwirei’s entry into the Central Committee is being resisted by factions that fear he is being groomed to eventually take over the party—and possibly the presidency—from Emmerson Mnangagwa. One of the most notable opponents, insiders say, is Vice President Chiwenga himself, who is seen as the constitutional and political heir apparent.
“There is no denying it—Tagwirei’s co-option is not just about party service; it is political positioning,” a senior Zanu PF member said off the record. “This is about 2028 and beyond. And not everyone is comfortable with that.”
Tagwirei is a politically connected businessman with significant influence in the country’s fuel, agriculture, and mining sectors. Through his company Sakunda Holdings and other networks, he has played a key role in controversial government-linked projects—including the now-defunct Command Agriculture programme.
He has long been considered a close ally and financier of Mnangagwa, and is believed to have wielded substantial influence behind the scenes during the president’s consolidation of power following the 2017 military ouster of Robert Mugabe.
However, his business dealings and political connections have also made him a lightning rod for criticism. In 2020, the United States imposed sanctions on Tagwirei, accusing him of using his ties to gain “preferential access to hard currency and government contracts,” while the United Kingdom followed suit with similar measures in 2021. Tagwirei has denied any wrongdoing, and Zimbabwean authorities have never charged him with any criminal offences.
Despite this, his proximity to power and wealth has fueled widespread perceptions of state capture and elite enrichment.
“The concern is not just that he’s wealthy or influential,” said a Harare-based political analyst. “The concern is that he may be using that wealth and influence to engineer a leadership path in a party—and a country—that desperately needs internal reform, not consolidation of plutocratic power.”
Tagwirei’s reported co-option comes amid intensifying speculation about who will succeed Mnangagwa, who is now 82–years-old and constitutionally serving his second and final term. While Mnangagwa has not publicly named a successor, many within Zanu PF had long assumed that Vice President Chiwenga—himself a former military general and architect of the 2017 transition—would eventually take the reins.
However, Mnangagwa’s inner circle has reportedly grown more divided, with some loyalists wary of ceding control to the military-aligned Chiwenga faction. Tagwirei, as a civilian and longtime Mnangagwa confidante, is seen by some as a preferable successor who would maintain continuity while preserving the president’s post-office influence.
Others within the party are alarmed by what they perceive as a strategic effort to fast-track Tagwirei’s political rise by embedding him in key decision-making structures.
“This is Mnangagwa playing a long game,” said a senior academic at the University of Zimbabwe. “He wants to remain kingmaker after 2028. Tagwirei gives him that option—Chiwenga doesn’t.”
While Chinamasa’s statement seeks to close the door on debate around Tagwirei’s co-option, the political dynamics it has unleashed are unlikely to disappear quietly. The issue touches on unresolved questions within Zanu PF about legitimacy, succession, and the influence of money in politics.
The next Central Committee meeting, at which the Politburo’s co-option decisions will be formally adopted, is expected to provide further clues about internal alignments and possible resistance.
Meanwhile, Tagwirei’s presence in the party hierarchy will likely deepen the power struggle ahead of Zanu PF’s next Congress in 2027 and the 2028 general elections.
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