HARARE – Vice President Kembo Mohadi has advised President Emmerson Mnangagwa that he wants to retire, multiple government sources have told ZimLive.
His retirement would open up a vacancy in the presidium and add more intrigue to Zanu PF’s leadership battles.
Mohadi has been battling poor health for years, but he has recently found the demands of his job too exerting.
The 75-year-old has had at least three alarming incidents of collapsing in public. As acting president for 18 days in January, he made a single public appearance – a news conference conducted whilst sitting down and during which his voice repeatedly trailed off.
A source briefed on the developments said: “He is spending more time indisposed than at work. He has made the decision himself that he wants to retire, and the president has accepted his decision. It’s now just a matter of timing how and when they make it official.”
Mohadi had spells as home affairs and later state security minister before becoming vice president in 2017.
He resigned in shame in March 2021 after ZimLive published voice recordings which revealed a string of affairs including with married women, among them a state security agent whose husband was protecting both Mnangagwa and Mohadi at Munhumutapa.
Mnangagwa reportedly intends to appoint current Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda as vice president when Mohadi leaves, effectively pitting him against the second vice president Constantino Chiwenga who is currently the frontrunner to become the next Zanu PF leader.
Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba declined to comment.
