By Chipo Musarurwa Siziba
ZANU PF politics, succession has never been a matter of popularity or populism.
It is a function of institutional logic, historical continuity, and strategic alignment.
And in that context, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga emerges as the most logical and stabilizing successor to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
This is not an emotional endorsement.
It is a sober reflection on the realities of power.
General Chiwenga’s credentials are not just military they are institutional.
He has served as Commander of the Defence Forces, Vice President, and Minister of Health.
His understanding of statecraft, security, and governance is unmatched within the current leadership cohort.
More importantly, General Chiwenga represents the continuity of the 2017 transition.
He was not a passenger in that process he was a driver.
To ignore that legacy is to risk destabilizing the very foundations of the Second Republic.
ZANU PF is not a party of slogans.
It is a liberation movement with a defined ideological trajectory.
General Chiwenga’s recent remarks rejecting personality cults and reaffirming loyalty to the party’s founding principles are not just rhetoric they are a recalibration of ZANU PF’s ideological compass.
In a political climate increasingly polluted by self-serving campaigns and factional theatrics, General Chiwenga’s message is a breath of strategic clarity.
Delaying or resisting General Chiwenga’s ascendancy risks creating a vacuum one that could be exploited by opportunists and destabilizers.
The party must act decisively, not reactively.
Succession must be managed, not manipulated.
As someone who has observed and participated in ZANU PF’s internal dynamics for decades, I say this with conviction General Chiwenga is not just the next logical leader he is the necessary one.
The party must embrace this reality, not resist it.
The future of ZANU PF and indeed, the stability of Zimbabwe depends on it.
