MUTARE – Barely a week after a fierce exchange between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga’s camps, over allegations of corruption and state capture, the Zanu-PF leader has publicly condemned graft, describing it as “cancerous” to Zimbabwe’s national development agenda.
Speaking at the official opening of Zanu-PF’s 22nd National People’s Conference in Mutare on Friday, Mnangagwa said corruption, tribalism, and regionalism have no place in the ruling party or government.
He urged members to uphold integrity and discipline, warning that corrupt behaviour risked alienating the party from the people.
“Corruption of any kind has no place among the rank and file of the Party membership and indeed, in our country. It is cancerous to the ongoing national development agenda,” Mnangagwa said.
“Excesses, wanton acts of commission and omission for corrupt ends, risk alienating the Party from the masses and must be expunged from our body politic.”
The President’s remarks come just days after an explosive internal dispute between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga’s camps exposed deep divisions within Zanu-PF.
On September 17, 2025, Chiwenga submitted a confidential seven-page dossier to the Zanu-PF presidium and Politburo accusing Mnangagwa’s allies, including businessmen Kudakwashe Tagwirei, Wicknell Chivayo, and Scott Sakupwanya, of looting state funds and using the proceeds to finance a campaign to extend Mnangagwa’s rule under the controversial “ED2030” agenda.
Chiwenga claimed the alleged corruption had diverted over US$3.2 billion from state coffers and called for the arrest of those involved, arguing that the campaign to extend Mnangagwa’s presidency beyond 2028 represented a “betrayal of the ideals” that inspired the 2017 military coup which brought Mnangagwa to power.
In response, Zanu-PF Secretary for Legal Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi, writing under Mnangagwa’s direction, issued a 25-page rebuttal dismissing Chiwenga’s claims as “reckless, malicious and treasonous.”
The document defended the ED2030 proposal as a legitimate party resolution passed at the 2024 conference and accused Chiwenga of attempting to destabilise a constitutionally elected government.
Ziyambi also defended the businessmen named, insisting that their financial contributions to the party were lawful and beneficial to national development.
“There is nothing criminal about receiving funding for our revolutionary party from the business community,” Ziyambi wrote, labelling Chiwenga’s accusations “politically motivated” and “treasonous.”
At the Mutare conference, Mnangagwa also warned that no individual or faction could claim control over the party.
“Zanu-PF is not private property; it can never fit into anyone’s pocket,” he said to loud applause. “We are a party that upholds its Constitution and revolutionary principles, not the self-interests of cliques.”
The succession feud between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, long viewed as a contest between the political and military wings of the 2017 coup coalition, has deepened in recent months as Mnangagwa’s allies push to formalise the ED2030 campaign, while Chiwenga’s camp resists any move seen as violating the party constitution.
