Emmerson Mnangagwa beat Joice Mujuru in the initial provincial committee votes for the post of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front vice-president in 2004 but party leader Robert Mugabe rejected the results.
This was said by Monica Chinamasa, wife of current Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, shortly after the party congress which saw Mnangagwa being demoted from Secretary for Administration, the fifth most powerful post in ZANU-PF, to Secretary for Legal Affairs.
Mujuru was elevated to vice-president with one of the reasons being that one of the vice-presidents had to be a woman.
According to a Wikileaks cable drafted in December 2004, Monica Chinamasa said that her husband Patrick, had come in a tie for the post of national chairman with incumbent John Nkomo while Tenjiwe Lesabe had narrowly lost to Joseph Msika, who was then vice-president for the post of vice-president.
“However, Mugabe rejected the results and instructed that the vote be reconducted until Mujuru, Msika and Nkomo emerged victorious,” she said.
Below are the Wikileaks cables that mention Mnangagwa’s name.
Continued next page
(408 VIEWS)
