In Manicaland, Lands Minister Kumbirai Kangai, seems to be in full control. Regarded as one of the top contenders for the presidency, Kangai is a survivor. He is the only surviving member of the once powerful ZANU inner circle Dare of the early 1970s. He has survived numerous scandals in which he was implicated including one when he was Minister of Social Welfare in the 1980s.
In one of the country's biggest financial scandals businessman Sampson Paweni defrauded the government of $5 million. At the time the Zimbabwe dollar was stronger than the US dollar which means at today's rates this could be equivalent to $90 million. Kangai was implicated but he survived the scandal. Paweni was jailed and died soon after his release from prison.
He has also survived the land scandal, taking the blame to weather off the storm. Kangai has the dubious position of heading Manicaland yet after the death of former ZANU chairman, Herbert Chitepo, in Zambia in 1975 he was arrested as a Karanga together with former ZANLA chief Josiah Tongogara. Besides being a strong contender, he is a powerful power broker.
The other leader from Manicaland, Didymus Mutasa is now a spent force. He has been too close to Mugabe and made the blunder of saying Mugabe should not go alone, meaning he would go down with him. But former diplomat Moses Mvenge has been building his own base in alliance with Kangai and could be someone to watch and so is Lazarus Nzarayebani, an outspoken MP who once even boasted he could beat Mugabe in his own ( Nzarayebani's) constituency of Mutare South.
Nzarayebani has been a backbencher for 13 years and should be aspiring for greater heights. His outspokenness has won him national recognition. But also not to be written off is former Southern African Development Community secretary- general, Simba Makoni. Throughout the 80s and early 90s Makoni was believed to be the man Mugabe was grooming to take over from him. But he was pushed out of politics by being offered the better paying job of Zimbabwe Newspapers chief executive where he was fired three years later but left a millionaire.
Although out of mainline politics, Makoni has been keeping a high profile, officiating at events that would normally be officiated at by senior government ministers or Mugabe himself, like being the guest of honour at the graduation ceremony at Africa University.
Among the party women, Joyce Mujuru, wife of former army commander Solomon Mujuru, continues to be the dominant player but she has been in power for too long she does not seem to have higher ambitions. Women's league chairman Tenjiwe Lesabe is just too old. Oppah Muchinguri, though young has been too close to Mugabe while Shuvai Mahofa, once a political force in Masvingo, has been too close to Muzenda. These women are likely to have no political future once these leaders go.
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