HARARE – Zanu PF’s internecine fights played out in public on Monday as supporters of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga clashed at the National Heroes Acre.

Chiwenga, who is acting president, presided over the burial of Justin Mupamhanga, who was declared a national hero.

In the stands, Information Technology Minister Tatenda Mavetera, who leads a group called Young Women 4 ED, led Mnangagwa’s praise singers in song and dance as they fired salvos at Chiwenga.

They sang “mupanduki mupanduki chera mwena nguva yakwana (sellout sellout dig a hole, the time has come)” – an apparent reference to Chiwenga, who has refused to back a push by Mnangagwa loyalists to keep him in power beyond 2028 when his second and final term as president is due to end.

Chiwenga loyalists in the crowd also found their voice as they sang: “Siyanai naye Chiwenga munomuvengerei, siyanai naye Chiwenga (leave Chiwenga alone, why do you hate him, leave Chiwenga alone).”

The vice president’s supporters also sang “2030 tonosangana, tonosangana kuWedza (2030 we will meet in Wedza)” – a reference to the vice president’s rural home in Wedza, Mashonaland East.

Not since 2017 when Chiwenga – then the top army general – led a coup that ousted Robert Mugabe from power and helped Mnangagwa seize power have Zanu PF splits been so pronounced.

Chiwenga and his supporters, including elements of the military, have watched with growing impatience as Mnangagwa loyalists try to upend the party’s succession structure by promoting a plan to keep the 82-year-old in power.

The plan would require constitutional amendments and at least one and possibly two public referendums.

Chiwenga and his backers say the plot is driven only by the greed of Mnangagwa’s supporters who have amassed wealth by looting from state coffers and now don’t want to let go. It was a theme that Chiwenga took up when he spoke.

“Zimbabwe belongs to all of us. We must share its God-given bounty, share its bounty equally so no-one – not even the weak, the widowed or the orphaned are displaced or elbowed out by the strong in a mad rat-race to grab unmerited privileges. Corruption has to end,” Chiwenga said.

“Our Vision 2030 is for all of us, not those that you call mbinga (corrupt tenderpreneurs). During the war we referred to them as zvigananda (leeches): those who grow big tummies through ill-gotten wealth and questionable morals!“

The internal Zanu PF fights can only deepen from here on in, analysts warn.

Former Zanu PF political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, now self-exiled in South Africa, dubbed the developments in Zanu PF “Mgagao Declaration 3” – reference to a 1975 war time communique by young ZANLA cadres which triggered a leadership change in ZANU as Ndavaningi Sithole was replaced by Mugabe.

Mugabe’s removal in 2017, Kasukuwere opined, was the second and now he believes the country is ripe for another leadership change.

Mnangagwa won his second five-year term in elections held in August 2023. Many expected him to pursue legacy projects but his presidency is now hobbled by fierce internal and external opposition to the term extension, coupled with a failing economy and rising disenchantment over rampant corruption by members of his family and other loyalists.