HARARE – Kudakwashe Tagwirei has taken a massive step in his reported push for the Zanu PF presidency by securing a seat in the 300-member Zanu PF central committee.
The controversial tycoon, a long-time benefactor of the party, is now seen as one of the frontrunners to succeed President Emmerson Mnangagwa who has three years left of his second and final term.
A recommendation for Tagwirei’s co-option into the central committee was first mooted by the Zanu PF leadership in Masvingo province, but it is Harare province which found an opening for the Sakunda Holdings founder.
His co-option was confirmed by Patrick Chinamasa, Zanu PF’s secretary for legal affairs.
Chinamasa said for a long time Tagwirei was “a dormant but committed Zanu PF party cadre, loyally working quietly and outside the public limelight or glare, holding some low-ranking position in some Zanu PF party district under Harare province.”
“His recent cooption into the Zanu PF central committee is a breath of fresh air and will certainly be impactful to Zanu PF’s political fortunes in Harare and perhaps in other urban settings as well,” Chinamasa said.
Making reference to Tagwirei’s shock emergence as one of the favourites to succeed Mnangagwa, Chinamasa said the businessman who is under American and British sanctions for allegedly undermining the country’s economy through corruption, has “erupted from his dormant state like a volcano.”
Tagwirei’s growing confidence of taking over Mnangagwa’s mantle has already unsettled some Zanu PF heavyweights including Christopher Mutsvangwa, who used a recent news conference to warn that the party will “winnow out businessman entrants with hidden ambitions.”
Vice President Contantino Chiwenga has long been touted as a shoe-in to succeed Mnangagwa, boosted by his key role in a military coup that ushered Mnangagwa to power in 2017.
But Mnangagwa, 82, reportedly does not trust his deputy to spare corrupt oligarchs around him when he is gone, which has seen him shopping for a candidate to stop Chiwenga.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander Phillip Valerio Sibanda, who is expected to go on leave in August pending his retirement, has been considered a dark horse for sometime but some Mnangagwa loyalists see him as a “reluctant candidate” to take on Chiwenga due to their past military ties.
First lady Auxillia Mnangagwa is reported to be backing Tagwirei, while Mnangagwa has quietly urged the businessman to go out and win the support of Zanu PF branches, according to insiders.
Just after Zanu PF province secured him a central committee seat, Tagwirei bought vehicles for the top leadership. He has also pledged to raise money for new party offices while financing their political activities.
Tagwirei has also used his Bridging Gaps Foundation to reach outlying communities and endear himself.
On June 25, he will be in Bulawayo – his second stop on a tour of all 10 provinces in his capacity as chairman of the Land Tenure Implementation Committee, appointed by Mnangagwa to reform the ownership model for farmland.
Tagwirei has not publicly commented on being linked with a run for the presidency.
The post ‘Volcano’ Tagwirei secures seat in Zanu PF central committee appeared first on Zimbabwe News Now.