HARARE
–
Christopher
Mutsvangwa
says
Zanu
PF
leadership
rival
Kudakwashe
Tagwirei
is
“not
ready”
to
be
a
senior
leader
in
Zanu
PF,
and
has
suggested
that
he
enrols
with
the
party’s
ideology
school
to
learn
more
about
the
organisation
and
its
history.
Mutsvangwa
spoke
in
the
wake
of
the
millionaire
businessman’s
clumsy
attempt
to
be
elevated
into
the
central
committee,
the
party’s
key
decision
making
body
between
congresses.
The
businessman’s
actions
displayed
“uninformed
ambition,”
Mutsvangwa
claimed.
Tagwirei,
who
made
his
fortune
from
state
contracts
and
remains
Zanu
PF’s
largest
donor
has
entered
frontline
politics
by
accepting
a
recommendation
by
Harare
province
for
his
co-option
into
the
Zanu
PF
central
committee.
The
Sakunda
Holdings
founder
attended
a
meeting
of
the
central
committee
on
July
3
but
was
kicked
out,
allegedly
on
the
orders
of
vice
president
Constantino
Chiwenga.
Zanu
PF
officials
later
explained
that
Tagwirei
needed
the
recommendation
by
Harare
province
to
be
ratified
by
the
central
committee
first,
before
he
becomes
a
member.
As
it
turned
out,
the
item
on
endorsing
new
members
was
not
on
the
agenda
and
so
Tagwirei
should
wait
for
the
next
meeting
–
three
months
away.
Mutsvangwa,
the
Zanu
PF
spokesman
who
wears
his
heart
on
his
sleeve,
has
never
hidden
his
dislike
of
Tagwirei,
who
intends
to
use
his
financial
muscle
to
force
his
way
into
contention
as
one
of
the
potential
successors
of
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa,
whose
second
and
final
term
ends
in
2028.
Reflecting
on
Tagwirei’s
embarrassing
removal
from
the
central
committee
meeting,
Mutsvangwa
said
the
process
is
that
the
party’s
hierarchy
first
deliberates
and
endorses
a
new
member
before
they
take
their
seat
in
the
central
committee.
“Whether
it
was
for
lack
of
proper
advice
from
the
Harare
provincial
leadership
or
personal
ambition,
he
(Tagwirei)
assumed
it
would
be
a
headlong
stampede,”
Mutsvangwa
told
The
Standard.
“It
was
procedurally
wrong
and
the
constitution
had
to
be
read
out
to
him
that
‘you
are
not
yet
a
member
and
that
you
are
coming
into
an
institution
with
principles
and
guidelines’.”
Mutsvangwa
suggested
that
Tagwirei
may
have
to
start
from
the
party’s
grassroots,
instead
of
parachuting
into
the
top
structures
of
the
organisation.
The
decision
to
attend
the
central
committee
when
he
was
not
a
member
is
“behaviour
that
creates
its
own
problems
because
it
flouts
the
constitution,
the
party
guiding
principles
and
tenets,”
Mutsvangwa
said.
He
added:
“It
shows
that
you’re
not
ready
to
be
part
of
it
and
you
may
have
to
go
back
and
understand
where
you
are.
“He
wanted
to
know
the
power
he
was
assuming,
not
the
mode
to
exercise
that
power.
Without
that
faux
pas,
the
process
would
have
taken
its
due
course.
It
brings
with
it
an
element
of
bad
faith
or
uninformed
ambition.
“This
ignorance
or
naivety
indicates
that
his
beginning
should
be
the
Chitepo
School
of
Ideology.
The
tenets
of
the
party
are
concretised
in
its
constitution
and
if
you
are
coming
in
you
have
to
relate
accordingly.”
Tagwirei
is
part
of
a
group
of
businessmen
that
Chiwenga
has
labelled
zvigananda
–
politically-connected
businessmen
who
have
corrupted
the
state’s
procurement
system
to
enrich
themselves
and
their
associates
to
the
detriment
of
the
country’s
economy.
The
thought
of
Tagwirei
succeeding
Mnangagwa
unites
some
of
the
party’s
bitter
rivals
like
Chiwenga
and
Mutsvangwa.