Nkomo’s
remarks,
contained
in
an
internal
memo
circulated
to
senior
party
structures
on
January
15,
2026,
expose
the
long-standing
internal
cracks
that
have
plagued
ZAPU
in
recent
years.
ZAPU
is
expected
to
hold
an
elective
congress
later
this
year.
The
development
in
ZAPU,
mirrors
a
broader
pattern
of
instability
within
Zimbabwe’s
opposition
landscape,
where
leadership
disputes,
factionalism
and
court
battles
have
repeatedly
weakened
parties
struggling
to
mount
a
strong
challenge
against
the
ruling
Zanu
PF
establishment.
In
the
internal
memo
addressed
to
members
of
ZAPU’s
National
Council
of
Elders
(NCoE),
National
People’s
Council
(NPC)
and
National
Executive
Committee
(NEC),
Nkomo
warned
the
party
was
facing
sustained
attacks
“more
so
from
within
its
own
ranks
than
from
outside
interference.”
“It
is
abundantly
clear,
especially
in
the
tenure
and
life
of
the
current
ZAPU
administration,
that
the
people’s
movement
is
always
under
constant
attack,”
Nkomo
wrote,
adding
that
“ZAPU
must
not
be
allowed
to
grow,
thrive
and
prosper”
in
the
eyes
of
its
enemies
and
“their
collaborators.”
Nkomo’s
memo
comes
amid
growing
discontent
among
some
party
members
and
former
leaders
who
have
questioned
his
leadership
style,
legitimacy
and
political
strategy.
Critics
within
and
outside
the
party
have
long
argued
that
Nkomo’s
leadership
has
failed
to
mobilise
ZAPU
into
a
formidable
political
force,
while
others
have
openly
resisted
his
ascent
to
the
presidency.
Nkomo
himself
acknowledged
resistance
to
his
leadership
began
well
before
he
assumed
office,
recalling efforts
to
block
him from
contesting
at
the
party’s
October
2021
People’s
Congress.
He
said
the
urgent
High
Court
application
was
allegedly
left
at
the
party’s
offices
on
the
eve
of
the
congress,
an
attempt
by
disgruntled
members
to
stop
the
gathering
and
prevent
him
from
contesting
for
the
presidency.
According
to
Nkomo,
the
courts
dismissed
the
application,
allowing
congress
to
proceed,
but
legal
challenges
continued
even
after
his
election.
“The
comrades
not
having
been
satisfied
with
the
Congress
outcome
went
on
to
open
another
court
case
to
try
and
dethrone
the
newly
elected
and
sitting
President,”
he
wrote.
Nkomo
said
many
of
those
who
took
ZAPU
to
court
and
lost
later
broke
away
to form
a
rival
formation
known
as
Original
ZAPU (O-ZAPU),
while
warning
of
what
he
described
as
“yet
another
impending
effort”
to
chip
away
at
the
party.
At
the
centre
of
the
internal
contestation
is
a
long-standing
narrative
that
Nkomo
“inherited”
ZAPU
from
his
father,
the
late
Dr
Joshua
Mqabuko
Nkomo,
the
party’s
founding
president
and
one
of
Zimbabwe’s
foremost
liberation
icons.
That
perception,
Nkomo
conceded,
has
been
weaponised
by
his
detractors
to
question
his
legitimacy.
“Others
protested
that
I
could
not
lead
ZAPU
because
it
was
not
an
inheritance
property
bequeathed
to
me
by
my
father,”
Nkomo
wrote.
“My
short
answer
was
that
ZAPU
is
an
inheritance
for
all
of
us,
including
myself,
provided
one
is
a
true
member
in
good
standing.”
While
he
sought
to
frame
his
leadership
as
rooted
in
collective
ownership
rather
than
lineage,
the
reference
underscores
the
complex
legacy
politics
that
continue
to
shape
ZAPU’s
internal
dynamics.
ZAPU’s
identity
remains
deeply
tied
to
its
liberation
history,
often
making
leadership
transitions
emotionally
and
politically
charged.
Nkomo
also
painted
a
picture
of
a
presidency
constrained
not
by
external
repression
alone,
but
by
resistance
from
within
party
leadership.
He
said
his
efforts
had
been
“marred
and
kept
in
check
by
some
leaders,”
accusing
them
of
blocking
grassroots
mobilisation
and
even
restricting
the
use
of
his
official
portrait
on
party
materials,
allegedly
citing
an
old
NEC
resolution.
“I
stayed
in
my
lane
and
avoided
anything
that
may
be
misconstrued
as
dictatorial,
only
to
be
labelled
clueless,
docile
and
weak,”
he
wrote.
Despite
this,
Nkomo
insisted
he
retained
a
strong
mandate
from
the
party’s
membership,
saying
he
was
elected
through
a
“landslide
victory”
and
warning
that
“no
amount
of
chicanery
and
backhanded
vote-of-no-confidence
putsch
attempts”
would
change
that
reality.
Nkomo’s
remarks
reflect
a
leadership
under
pressure
to
assert
authority
while
simultaneously
appealing
for
unity,
a
factor
opposition
leaders
in
Zimbabwe
have
struggled
to
maintain.
In
recent
years,
opposition
parties
including
the
MDC
formations
and
newer
political
movements
such
as
the
Citizens
Coalition
for
Change
(CCC)
have
been
consumed
by
splits,
recalls
and
court
battles,
which
have
left
voters
confused,
angry
and
fragmented.
Nkomo
explicitly
drew
parallels
with
historical
opposition
implosions,
warning
that
failure
to
address
internal
sabotage
could
repeat
past
mistakes.
“If
we
haven’t
learnt
from
the
Zanu
split
of
1963
and
the
systematic
destruction
of
the
MDC
project,
then
we
have
learned
absolutely
nothing,”
he
cautioned.
In
the
memo,
Nkomo
concluded
he
is
“not
going
anywhere”
and
described
his
leadership
as
a
“God-given,
people-driven
and
ancestor-approved
mission”
to
bring
about
what
he
called
“final
and
total
freedom”
for
Zimbabweans.
In
an
interview
with
critical
studies
scholar,
Dr
Khanyile
Mlotshwa,
warned
that
while
Nkomo’s
rhetoric
may
resonate
with
his
loyal
supporters,
his
language
also
risks
deepening
divisions
in
a
party
already
grappling
with
trust
and
organisational
fatigue.
“The
party
faces
a
critical
test,
whether
it
can
translate
these
calls
for
unity
into
concrete
organisational
renewal,
or
whether
internal
fractures
will
continue
harming
its
political
agenda,”
he
said.
Dr
Mlotshwa
said
ZAPU’s
struggles
underscore
a
recurring
dilemma
within
Zimbabwe’s
opposition,
which
is
“the
inability
to
manage
internal
democracy
and
succession
without
descending
into
self-destructive
conflict.”
“Zanu
PF’s
dominance
remains
entrenched
because
opposition
parties’
fail
to
get
their
act
together
and
that
weakens
meaningful
political
competition
and
participation,”
he
said.