Categories: Stories

No factions but just cliques in ZANU-PF

Transport Minister Joram Gumbo today said there are no factions but just cliques in the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front.

First Lady Grace Mugabe said on Friday factionalism was rife in the Midlands and Masvingo, provinces dominated by Karanga and also perceived to be Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s strongholds.

Gumbo told The Standard: “To be honest with you, factionalism is difficult to detect. What I normally find are cliques and not factionalism as such because in the Midlands Province, there is always allegiance to the leadership that is there.

“When Mnangagwa was not vice-president, he was leader of the province.

“He just led us to believe and never to think otherwise but just to say our leader is President Mugabe until he leaves office.

“Other than cliques, there is no factionalism. Even if you go around the country, I have been around, I have been to Masvingo, I chaired Masvingo myself.

“What I discovered was that the leadership there would make preferences of people they want in positions and the group would also make preferences for their own people. if that is what people call factionalism, then the whole country is full of factionalism.”

(129 VIEWS)

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Is it true that 4 million Zimbabweans went without food on several occasions last year?

At least four million people in Zimbabwe reported that they had gone without food on…

November 5, 2026

Did you know that four of the world’s largest banks are all in China?

Four of the world’s largest banks are all in China. Assets of the Industrial and…

October 15, 2026

Zimbabwe one of the 27 countries in the world where the richest 0.1% has more wealth than the bottom 80%

Zimbabwe is one of the 27 countries in the world where the richest 0.1% of…

October 2, 2026

Zimbabwe third among the least free countries in SADC

Zimbabwe has been ranked third among the least free countries in Southern Africa but it…

May 24, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death- Take 1

I had always considered it a curse for a wife to die before her husband.…

May 18, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death

This is a true story about the challenges and loneliness I faced when my wife…

May 17, 2026