President Robert Mugabe wanted to retire way back in 2001 but he was persuaded to stay on by the new ministers that he had appointed to his cabinet who included Jonathan Moyo as Information Minister.
It is not clear how true this was because the source, Murehwa North Member of Parliament Victor Chitongo also said Mugabe wanted to retire in three years, which would have meant in 2005, but he did not and is still in power 15 years after Chitongo’s statement.
Chitongo claimed that if Mugabe were to step down, with no obvious successor, a nasty power struggle would ensue.
This is the same reason that is being advanced today.
Chitongo said there was some dissension within ZANU-PF, generally along age lines, about who should succeed Mugabe as ZANU-PF leader. Before Simba Makoni’s dismissal from cabinet and Parliament, he was a front-runner for president among the younger set.
“Now only Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa is the only clear their apparent, and he is more favored by the old guard,” he said.
The same scenario applies today with the younger generation going under the name G40 vehemently opposing Mnangagwa, but it appears the younger generation does not have a clear leader.
Initially, it was thought that G40 was pushing for First Lady Grace Mugabe but Zimbabwe People First leader Joice Mujuru, for 10 years Mugabe’s number two, says Mugabe is the real leader of G40.
Mugabe has already been endorsed as the party candidate for next year’s elections but there is a court challenge next month to decide whether he is still fit to run the country or not.
There are also concerns that he might not make it to 2018.
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