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By A Correspondent | ZANU-PF factions aligned with President Emmerson Mnangagwa have intensified their campaign to keep the President in power beyond 2030, in a move widely viewed as sidelining Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s succession ambitions.

Masvingo Province has become the latest province to join the campaign, publicly backing calls for Mnangagwa to remain at the helm of the ruling party beyond 2030.

The latest push comes amid an intensifying succession contest within ZANU-PF, with Mnangagwa’s allies openly advocating for him to continue leading the party until 2037. The campaign is widely seen by political observers as diminishing Chiwenga’s prospects of eventually succeeding the President.

The Masvingo declaration was made on the same day that ZANU-PF’s Harare Provincial leadership issued a similar endorsement, signalling what appears to be a coordinated effort to consolidate support for Mnangagwa’s continued leadership.

Speaking at the party’s provincial thanksgiving rally celebrating the enactment of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act, 2026, at Padare Business Centre in Zaka on Sunday, ZANU-PF Masvingo Provincial Chairperson Robson Mavhenyengwa said the province wanted Mnangagwa to continue leading both the country and the ruling party beyond 2030.Politics

Mavhenyengwa argued that the President had overseen major development projects and deserved to remain in office because of his performance.

“This CAB3 started here in Masvingo after we witnessed meaningful developments spearheaded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa,” he said.

“So, we are saying our President is good at driving the country’s economy; we want him to remain in power, and as a province we are looking for him to remain in office beyond 2030.”

“The President has done exceedingly well for this country, so why should we remove him after doing all this good?”

At the same event, Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira likened Mnangagwa to the biblical Joshua, describing former President Robert Mugabe as Moses who had led Zimbabwe to a certain point before handing over the mission.

“Our Moses was the former President Mugabe who led us to where he left us, and we were given Joshua, who is President Mnangagwa,” Chadzamira said.Geographic Reference

Harare Province Also Backs 2037 Campaign
The Masvingo declaration follows similar remarks made over the weekend by Harare Provincial Chairperson Godwills Masimirembwa, one of the leading advocates of the CAB3 campaign.

Addressing supporters in Epworth during celebrations marking the enactment of Constitution Amendment No. 3, Masimirembwa declared that Harare Province wanted Mnangagwa to remain ZANU-PF President and First Secretary until 2037.

Although the constitutional amendment extended Mnangagwa’s tenure as State President until 2030, Masimirembwa said Harare Province was already looking beyond that date.

“So we still want him for an additional seven years, from 2030 to 2037. He must lead the party. That is what Harare is saying,” he said.

Masimirembwa said Harare Province intended to table the proposal at the party’s next annual conference in Bindura, where delegates would be asked to endorse Mnangagwa’s continued leadership of ZANU-PF.

He praised Mnangagwa’s philosophy that “a country is built by its owners” and his foreign policy of being “a friend to all and an enemy to none,” describing him as a visionary leader whose regional and international influence continued to grow.

Among the achievements he highlighted were Zimbabwe’s election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with 182 votes, Mnangagwa’s chairmanship of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and his expected assumption of the COMESA chairmanship.

Masimirembwa also commended Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi for steering Constitution Amendment No. 3 through Parliament, arguing that it had laid a firm foundation for continuity in national leadership.Zimbabwe travel guide

Succession Battle Deepens
The latest endorsements are widely viewed as another setback for Vice President Chiwenga, whose supporters have long been regarded as positioning him to eventually succeed Mnangagwa.

Since the military-assisted removal of former President Robert Mugabe in November 2017, political analysts have speculated that there was an informal understanding among key figures involved in the intervention that Mnangagwa would serve his constitutional terms before handing over power to Chiwenga, then Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and a central figure in the operation.

Neither Mnangagwa, Chiwenga nor ZANU-PF has publicly confirmed the existence of such an arrangement.

Nevertheless, the period since 2017 has been marked by persistent reports of factional rivalry between politicians aligned with Mnangagwa and those believed to support Chiwenga. Although senior party leaders routinely dismiss claims of factionalism, recurring campaigns calling for Mnangagwa to remain in office beyond his current tenure have continued to fuel speculation that the succession question remains unresolved.

The emergence of pressure groups promoting the 2030 agenda, together with the successful passage of Constitution Amendment No. 3 (CAB3), which extended Mnangagwa’s presidency to 2030, has reinforced perceptions that influential figures within the ruling party are determined to postpone leadership renewal.

Political observers say the latest declarations by both Harare and Masvingo provinces could mark the beginning of a renewed campaign aimed at keeping Mnangagwa at the centre of Zimbabwean politics well beyond 2030.Politics

Although the current proposal relates only to Mnangagwa’s position as ZANU-PF President and First Secretary, critics argue that retaining him as party leader could eventually build political momentum for further constitutional changes—informally referred to by some commentators as a possible “CAB4″—that could seek to extend his tenure as State President beyond the existing two-term constitutional limit.

Under the ZANU-PF constitution, the President and First Secretary is elected by the party’s congress and may continue serving in that position without amending the national Constitution. However, since independence in 1980, the ZANU-PF leader has consistently been the party’s presidential candidate in national elections.

As a result, the growing campaign to retain Mnangagwa as party leader beyond 2030 is expected to further intensify the ruling party’s simmering succession battle while deepening uncertainty over Vice President Chiwenga’s prospects of eventually ascending to Zimbabwe’s highest office.
Source: Zim Eye