According to renowned Zimbabwean author, academic and Associate Professor in African politics at Oxford University, Miles Tendi, there were a number of reasons why Solomon Mujuru was opposed to Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ascendency to the Presidency.
His comments follows Obert Mpofu’s book “On The Shoulders of Struggle: Memoirs of a Political Insider”, in which he pointed out that General Solomon Mujuru was unyielding in his commitment to ensuring that Mnangagwa never ascends to the presidency of ZANU PF and Government.
Meanwhile, reviewing the book, Tendi says there were a number of issues why Mujuru didn’t want Mnangagwa to be President, the reasons which Mpofu shied away from highlighting.
Tendi says Mujuru became known for vowing that Mnangagwa would become Zimbabwe’s President over his dead body.
Tendi says Mpofu shied away from stating why Mujuru was determined to prevent an Emmerson Mnangagwa presidency.
According to the academic, Mujuru had four main reasons for opposing Mnangagwa’s bid to become president of Zimbabwe.
He says the first was; “Mnangagwa never saw active combat as a ZANLA guerrilla & his role in larger nationalist politics was marginal.
“For Mujuru, Mnangagwa’s meagre liberation struggle credentials disqualified him from seeking to determine the direction of ZANU’s succession politics.”
He added that Mujuru saw the unfavorable similarities in both Mnangagwa and Mugabe;
“One of the things Mujuru criticised Mugabe for was his hard heartedness, which he felt had been bad for Zimbabwe.
“Mujuru saw comparable hard heartedness in Mnangagwa and was of the view that Zimbabwe needed a break from a cycle of callous political leadership,” says Tendi.
He adds that Mujuru had an injudicious belief the highly educated & bright make the best leaders. Adding that this conviction partly explains his misguided support for Mugabe in the 1970s.
“Mujuru believed there were better educated, brighter, ZANU politicians than ED who could become president.”
“On Solomon Mujuru’s reverence for education: when the ZANU vice presidency became vacant in 2004, he opposed his wife Joice’s candidature. He believed Sydney Sekeramayi was more accomplished,” he adds.
Tendi further points out that Solomon Mujuru only backed his wife for the job after the Sekeramayi bid failed.
“Mujuru, opportunistically, rode a feminist wave in ZANU PF for a woman vice president so as to block Emmerson Mnangagwa from ever securing the vice presidency,” he adds.
