President Mnangagwa Presides Over High-Stakes Politburo Strategic Seminar Amid Renewed Focus on Party Discipline

By A Correspondent



HARARE – Against a long history of bruising succession battles and factional fights within Zanu PF, President Emmerson Mnangagwa today presides over a high-stakes Politburo Strategic Seminar in Harare — a meeting that comes as the ruling party once again moves to tighten discipline and consolidate internal control.

The seminar, being held at Heritage Village in Harare, follows last week’s Central Committee Strategic Seminar at the Zanu PF Convention Centre in Gweru. Mnangagwa, who is also the party’s First Secretary, is expected to officially open proceedings and steer deliberations aimed at strengthening coordination and sharpening ideological alignment within the party’s highest decision-making structures.

While officially framed as an intellectual and strategic retreat, the timing of the meeting cannot be divorced from Zanu PF’s long-standing succession sensitivities. The party has historically been shaped by internal power struggles — most dramatically in 2017, when factional battles between the so-called “G40” group aligned to former First Lady Grace Mugabe and the “Lacoste” faction backing Mnangagwa culminated in the military-assisted removal of the late President Robert Mugabe.

That episode exposed deep fractures within the party and fundamentally redefined Zimbabwe’s political trajectory.

Since assuming office under the banner of the “Second Republic,” Mnangagwa has repeatedly emphasised unity and discipline within party ranks. However, recurring speculation about succession — particularly ahead of future elective congresses — continues to generate undercurrents of competition among senior figures, making ideological retreats and Politburo gatherings politically significant moments of consolidation.

Zanu PF Secretary for Information and Publicity, Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa, said the seminar seeks to translate broad policy direction into concrete programmes, rules and actions.

“All Politburo members and their deputies are expected to attend without fail. The highest echelons of leadership are returning to the School for Ideology for a maiden seminar designed to enhance their intellectual understanding of the socio-economic changes implemented under the Second Republic,” he said.

According to Mutsvangwa, the gathering will reflect on achievements, analyse missed opportunities and draw lessons from successful projects. He cited Mnangagwa’s governing mantras — “Zimbabwe Is Open for Business,” “Vision 2030,” “Nyika Inovakwa neVene Vayo,” and the pledge to leave “No One and No Place Behind” — as pillars shaping the party’s policy direction.

The Gweru Central Committee seminar reaffirmed the committee’s role as the engine of mobilisation and ideological clarity, with delegates calling for strengthened unity, revitalised thematic committees and sharpened grassroots structures down to cell level. Emphasis was placed on discipline, loyalty and consistent messaging — themes that have historically surfaced during periods of internal strain.

Resolutions also stressed that party cadres deployed in Government and Parliament must remain guided by party ideology while accelerating service delivery and economic transformation in line with Vision 2030.

This week’s Politburo session is expected to operationalise those resolutions by assigning responsibilities, setting timelines and establishing monitoring mechanisms. As the administrative and political nerve centre of Zanu PF, the Politburo plays a critical role in enforcing discipline, maintaining cohesion and aligning Government programmes with party policy.

In a party whose history is marked by intense succession contests and factional realignments, today’s “strategic seminar” represents more than routine administration. It is a deliberate effort to project unity, consolidate authority and pre-empt internal turbulence as Zanu PF navigates the next phase of its political journey.