Some Zanu PF politburo and central committee members are gunning for businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei’s head as they accuse him of being too ambitious as the battle to succeed President Emmerson Mnangagwa intensifies.
The anger against Tagwirei is said to have been fuelled by recent Zanu PF rallies in Harare where he made controversial remarks about foreign business owners.
He is now accused of lacking understanding of the ruling party’s ideology and procedures.
Some Zanu PF senior officials said his policy pronouncements at rallies undermined the central committee and politburo, the party’s top two organs.
The inter-district gatherings were ostensibly meant to explain Zanu PF’s conference resolution to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term to 2030, but some in the ruling party see them as a platform for Tagwirei to position himself to succeed the 83 year-old leader.
Zanu PF supporters are lured to the meetings with food hampers and developmental projects, to help project an image that the businessman is popular among the grassroots.
The gatherings also followed Tagwirei’s controversial promotion to be a central committee member.
He has addressed supporters in Chitungwiza, Highfields, Hatfield, and Epworth where some social media users have been exaggerating attendances.
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This, according to top Zanu PF sources, has unsettled some politburo and central committee members who now accuse Tagwirei of manoeuvring to position himself as Mnangagwa’s successor.
A politburo member, who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was worrying that Tagwirei was showing little or no regard for the politburo and central committee organs.
Long viewed as one of Mnangagwa’s closest ally and benefactor, his frequent appearances at Zanu PF zonal meetings in Harare, often as guest of honour, have deepened fears that he is building a grassroots support base for a leadership battle ahead of the party congress in 2027.
Some disgruntled Zanu PF members claim Tagwirei is using the Vision 2030 campaign as a disguise to market himself politically while subtly de-campaigning Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who for long has been believed to be a shoe-in for the presidency.
He is accused of pronounced more party positions and policy directions than Mnangagwa, raising fears that he is projecting himself as an alternative centre of power.
Tensions escalated when Tagwirei criticised foreigners, declaring that certain economic sectors should be reserved for locals.
“Such pronouncements create the impression that Tagwirei, not the president, is shaping the party’s policy trajectory and indirectly, he is saying the resident has failed and he should take over and make things right,” a politburo member said.
The disgruntled Zanu PF officials are said to have escalated their grievances to Mnangagwa where they accused Tagwirei of using his vast wealth to buy support.
Officials also complained that his handouts and freebies were dividing structures.
At one recent gathering in Zone 3, Harare, attended by around 12 000 people, Tagwirei reportedly brought food hampers for only 1 000, which triggered frustration.
“Zanu PF policies are made in the central committee. That is the highest decision-making body between congresses,”
“But Tagwirei is out there outlining roadmaps and policies that were never discussed or approved.
“It is causing serious discord in the party.”
Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa was last week forced to deliver a public rebuke aimed at Tagwirei’s political overreach.
“Certain things are only said by the president,” Mutsvangwa said.
“They are not said by everybody, otherwise everyone who thinks they can be a president can be seen giving policies from his platform.
“It may not be too late, particularly for people who want to be presidents, to go back to the Chitepo School of Ideology. I have mentioned it before.”
Some critics on social media attacked Mutsvangwa, accusing him of being ignorant of the party’s position on the matter.
They claimed the party already has a policy to preserve certain industries to locals.
“But if that is the position, what Tagwirei meant was that the policy was not property implemented under Mnangagwa and that he is the best person to achieve that,” another politburo member said.
“The long and short of it, Tagwirei was accusing the president of being a bad leader and positioning himself as a good leader with the capacity to make people rich.
“The irony is, Tagwirei made his money from the same people he now wants to promise riches.
“Who doesn’t know how he got rich. He got his riches from Zanu PF and now wants to use the same money to buy political power.
“That will not happen. He should forget being president, even in his dreams. This will not happen.”
Mutsvangwa is said to have had Mnangagwa’s blessings to make the pronouncements that seemed targeted at Tagwirei.
“We are now worried about his source of power. He is being given presidential treatment at the rallies,” the official said.
“We feel the precedent being set will be a threat to the ruling party.
“People should be guided to follow party ideology, not money.”
Tagwirei is set to address a provincial gathering at Rufaro Stadium on Tuesday despite the warning by Mutsvangwa that officials must stop campaigning.
