MNANGAGWA’S PLAN TO STAY IN POWER: POLITICS OF DENIAL AND DECEIT

There is a lot of talk about whether President Emmerson Mnangagwa wants to stay in power beyond his second term. Officially, he has said he does not want to extend his term limit past 2028, as set by the constitution. But many of his supporters and political allies are pushing a different story. It seems there is a strong, well-organized campaign to keep him in office until 2030, and Mnangagwa is not stopping it.

This shows that Mnangagwa may be hiding his real plans. In public, he denies wanting to extend his time in power, but behind the scenes, his supporters are working hard to make sure he stays on. This makes it look like Mnangagwa is trying to play two different games at once. On one side, he is saying he will follow the constitution and step down in 2028. On the other side, he seems to be supporting efforts to stay in power longer.

Mnangagwa is probably denying this in public to protect himself if things do not go as planned. There are many reasons why he might want to do this. One of the biggest reasons is that his Vice-President, Constantino Chiwenga, is not happy with the idea of Mnangagwa staying in power longer. Chiwenga is a powerful figure with strong support from the military, and many people believe he wants to become the next president. If Mnangagwa tries to stay beyond 2028, it could lead to serious problems within the ruling Zanu PF party. This is why Mnangagwa is being careful and denying any plans to stay in power past 2028.

Despite Mnangagwa’s public denials, the more he tries to say he does not want to extend his term, the more his supporters speak out and show the opposite. A good example of this is a video of Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Owen “Mudha” Ncube. In the video, Ncube talks about how Mnangagwa should stay on as president after 2028. Ncube is not the only one making these claims. Many of Mnangagwa’s close political allies have been talking about how he should continue leading the country past his second term.

This shows that Mnangagwa’s allies are not afraid to talk about extending his time in power. It also suggests that Mnangagwa approves of these efforts, even though he is not admitting it in public. His supporters seem to believe that if they keep pushing for him to stay in power, it will happen, no matter what the constitution says.

The fact that Mnangagwa’s own supporters are talking openly about extending his term makes his public denials look weak and unconvincing. People are starting to question whether Mnangagwa is being honest when he says he does not want to stay in power past 2028. After all, if he truly wanted to step down in 2028, why would his supporters be so active in trying to keep him in office?

It is clear that there is a major political battle going on within Zimbabwe’s ruling party. Mnangagwa wants to keep his options open in case he decides to stay in power, but he also knows that pushing too hard could create a dangerous situation. If Chiwenga and his military-backed supporters feel threatened by Mnangagwa’s actions, it could lead to a serious conflict within Zanu PF.

In the end, Mnangagwa is walking a fine line. On the surface, he is playing by the rules and saying he will step down when his second term ends in 2028. But behind the scenes, it looks like he is quietly supporting efforts to stay in power longer. His supporters are working hard to make sure he stays president, and Mnangagwa is not doing much to stop them.

The question is, how long can Mnangagwa continue to play both sides? If he keeps denying his plans in public while supporting them in private, it may only be a matter of time before his true intentions are fully exposed. And when that happens, it could lead to a serious political showdown in Zimbabwe.