Tagwirei Barred From Central Committee

The ruling Zanu PF, increasingly reeling from an intensifying leadership succession battle threatening to further tear it asunder, has barred local multi-millionaire business mogul and one of its main funders Kudakwashe Tagwirei from the Central Committee, the party’s key decision-making body in-between congresses, The NewsHawks can exclusively reveal.

An internal circular obtained by The NewsHawks written to all provinces, dated 5 July, from Zanu PF secretary-general Obert Mpofu, titled Qualifications for Appointment to the Central Committee, sets out the criteria for one to be a member of the party’s decision-making body and clarifies the procedure to be followed – without exception – for admission into the 342-member critical structure, whose administrative organ is the politburo.

The circular says for one to be in the central committee, they have to be a member of the party “in good standing”;

• must have held office at provincial level or higher for a continuous period of not less than five years; a vacancy must arise;

• recommended by the District Coordinating Committee (DCC);

• follow the stipulated approval procedure from DCC level to the politburo and the central committee;

• co-option must happen within three months after the vacancy has arisen, and members of other party organs other than the DCC from which the recommendation is coming from may attend co-option meetings as observers.

Co-option, also called co-optation, is the addition of a new member to an organisation, structure or committee by existing members.

It is essentially an internal appointment process, rather than an election where the public or membership vote.

The circular says the ruling party wants the provincial leadership to strictly follow and enforce the clarified rules of co-option without exception:

The five years high level service requirement must apply;

co-option procedure and time limits;

and submit minutes of co-option meetings at every stage within seven days to the secretary-general.”

Non-compliance will invalidate the nomination (of a candidate; Tagwirei is this instance,) and may attract disciplinary measures,” the circular ominously says.

The Central Committee comprises the party presidium – the president, two deputies and chairperson – 94 members from the ruling party’s 10 provinces proportionally distributed in line with results of the preceding general elections, 100 allocated to provinces on an equal basis, 22 from the Women’s League, 22 from war veterans and their associates, 10 appointed by the President for special needs, 50 women from all 10 provinces providing five members each, and 22 from the National Youth Executive.

The Central Committee makes Zanu PF rules, regulations and procedures which govern how the party is run and the conduct of its members.

Most importantly, it also implements party policies, resolutions, decisions, directives, projects and programmes.

This circular effectively bars Tagwirei from getting into the Central Committee through the back door.

The influential tycoon, who hails from Shurugwi in the Midlands, with roots in Gutu in Masvingo, was booted out of the central committee meeting last week on Thursday by Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga.

Tagwirei has of late been widely touted as a new contender to succeed President Emmerson Mnangagwa, rivalling Chiwenga.

Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda has also been mentioned as a possible contestant in the cutthroat succession race.

The politburo, the supreme decision-making administrative organ of the central committee, was last week on Wednesday deemed to have adopted Tagwirei’s co-option by consensus when no one opposed it after a report by Zanu PF national political commissar Munyaradzi Machacha.

That led to Tagwirei attending the central committee gathering the following day on Thursday before he was booted out of the meeting by Chiwenga.

Mnangagwa endorsed Tagwirei’s ejection from the meeting.

On Friday last week, Mnangagwa denounced “zvigananda”, a new reference to tenderpreneuers and dealers, including Tagwirei, first used by Chiwenga in January.

Chiwenga is currently locked in a cutthroat succession tussle with Mnangagwa, with Tagwirei emerging as a dark horse even though he now denies it.

Tagwirei’s co-option has led to the party to revisit its co-option process to clarify grey areas, particularly after two Zanu PF provinces, Harare and Masvingo, made formal approaches to the commissar and secretary-general’s offices to have him co-opted into the central committee.

The provinces wanted Tagwirei largely because of his business profile and money, not political capital.Harare Province eventually won the bid to rope in Tagwirei, but the process was stalled by Chiwenga and his faction.

However, a wrong party structure – the Provincial Coordinating Committee – initiated the process.

The DCC is the one that must constitutionally and lawfully do so.This rendered Tagwirei’s co-option process even more murkier, contested and divisive, hence the current move to clarify it – effectively barring him as he is ineligible.

On co-option, the Zanu PF constitution, section 264, before its last amendment during congress in 2022 said:

“Any office which falls vacant in any organ of the party, other than the Central Committee, shall be filled by co-option by the executive council/committee of the appropriate organ until the next elections, but where the vacancies are one third of the total membership that organ shall automatically dissolve itself and new elections shall be held.”

After its amendment in 2022, the Zanu PF constitution, section 554, now says on co-option:

“Any office which falls vacant in any organ of the party shall be filled by co-option within three months by consensus. In cases where two candidates emerge, a simple majority of the appropriate organ will constitute a quorum to make the co-option.However, where the vacant offices, other than the central committee, are one third of the total membership an organ shall be deemed to have automatically dissolved; provided that the vacancy in the organ will be filled in by a person from the same administrative district from whence the previous member came from.”