HARARE
–
Vice
President
Constantino
Chiwenga
missed
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
State
of
the
Nation
Address
on
Tuesday
to
keep
a
doctor’s
appointment
in
South
Africa,
the
presidency
said
on
Thursday.
Chiwenga,
69,
was
conspicuous
by
his
absence
during
the
opening
of
the
third
session
of
the
tenth
parliament.
The
second
vice
president
Kembo
Mohadi
was
present.
In
a
terse
response
to
a
ZimLive
enquiry,
presidential
spokesman
George
Charamba
said:
“The
vice
president
had
a
medical
review
in
South
Africa.”
He
is
believed
to
have
since
returned
to
Zimbabwe.
Chiwenga’s
last
public
engagement
was
on
October
25,
when
he
attended
the
75th
anniversary
celebrations
of
St
Luke’s
Mission
and
St
Luke’s
Mission
Hospital
in
Lupane,
Matabeleland
North,
following
a
tour
of
development
projects
in
Matabeleland
South.
His
absence
at
such
a
key
national
event
had
sent
tongues
wagging
amid
reports
of
a
growing
power
struggle
within
Zanu
PF.
Allies
of
Mnangagwa
–
led
by
controversial
businessman
Kudakwashe
Tagwirei
–
are
said
to
be
manoeuvring
to
have
the
former
army
commander
jettisoned
from
the
ruling
party
and
government,
effectively
eliminating
him
from
the
succession
contest.
Chiwenga
is
reportedly
resisting
attempts
to
extend
Mnangagwa’s
presidency
beyond
2028,
when
his
second
and
final
term
is
due
to
end
under
the
2013
constitution
–
a
stance
that
has
put
him
at
odds
with
powerful
loyalists,
some
of
whom
privately
nurse
ambitions
of
their
own.