ZANU PF Elective Congress Set For This Week, Anxiety Grips Party Bigwigs

The ruling ZAN PF is set to hold its 7th elective Congress from 26 to 29 October this year amid reports of anxiety among party senior officials who are unsure where they will stand after the event.

The Congress will, among other things result in the formation of a new Council of Elders.

Significance of the Congress:

1). The 7th National People’s Congress will elect the President and First Secretary of the party who will represent the party as the presidential candidate for the 2023 harmonised elections and elect Central Committee members among other issues. All party structures have endorsed Mnangagwa as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election.

2). Under article 8 of the ZANU PF constitution, soon after the election of the President and First Secretary and members of the central committee, the president shall appoint from the newly elected central committee:

i). two vice presidents and second secretaries,

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ii). the national chairperson,

iii). the heads of departments of the politburo,

iv). the committee members of the politburo and

v). the deputies to the heads of departments.

3). The ZANU PF constitution states that the individual chosen as the party’s president will become the party’s candidate in presidential elections. His or her deputies will likely be the national Vice Presidents if he/she wins the race.

4). Members of the newly elected central committee, the party’s principal organ of Congress and the second highest decision-making body after the Politburo, members also wait eagerly with the hope to be appointed to the politburo. Their fate is likely to be decided after Congress.  

Powers & Functions of the ZANU PF Central Committee:

Being the principal organ of the ZANU PF Congress and acting on behalf of Congress when it’s not in session, the Central Committee has absolute powers to:

i). Amend the Constitution, if deemed necessary, subject to ratification by Congress ii). Call for an extraordinary session of ZANU PF Congress to be convened. iii). Make rules, regulations and procedures to govern the conduct of the Party and its members iv). Implement all policies, resolutions, directives, decisions and programmes enunciated by Congress; v). Give directions, supervise and superintend all the functions of the Central Government in relation to the programmes as enunciated by Congress, vi). Set up Party organs, committees, institutions, commissions and enterprises in the name and on behalf of the Party.

Central Committee’s Notable Actions:

On 19 November 2017, the Committee met at the party’s headquarters in Harare to decide on the fate of the party’s president and first secretary Robert Mugabe following the votes of no confidence by the 10 provinces.

Meanwhile, the politburo is expected to be dissolved in line with the ZANU PF constitution and the party leader will then appoint his new politburo, with members drawn from the recently elected central committee members.

The ZANU PF Politburo is the party’s highest decision-making body outside Congress.

Some say ZANU PF structures do not matter:

Pedzisayi Ruhanya, a Zimbabwean academic, journalist, and political commentator, cites “the fall of (Robert) Mugabe” to support this argument. He says:

The elephant in the room is the command structure, the military factor. That’s where real politics in ZANU PF and the state takes place.

Robert Mugabe tendered his resignation letter on 21 November 2017 after the army had marched on the capital and captured some government institutions including the state broadcaster. Members of the public also marched in solidarity with the army.

The Military insisted on the 14th of November 2017 that Operation Restore Legacy was not a coup d’etat.

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