Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s bid for a second full term in office is facing an unexpected hurdle after an exiled ally of former ruler Robert Mugabe made a late entry into the race, ahead of the country’s August 23 elections.
The southern African country’s presidential election was shaping into a traditional two horse race that has typified contests for the presidency for the past three decades until former Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere announced his candidature in June.
Up to nearly a month ago, President Mnangagwa’s biggest challenger was opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa whom he narrowly beat in the disputed 2018 elections.
The then 40-year-old Mr Chamisa’s strong performance in the polls was largely attributed to an endorsement by the late Mr Mugabe, who turned against Zanu PF on the eve of the post-coup polls.
Mr Kusukuwere, who has been living in exile in South Africa since the coup that toppled Mr Mugabe in 2017 and was the long serving ruler’s last political commissar, was seen as one of the ruling Zanu PF party’s rising stars, until the military putsch.
Now, the 53 year-old former minister’s announcement that he will run has caused panic in President Mnangagwa’s camp as shown by threats by government officials that he will be arrested if he sets foot in Zimbabwe to campaign.
Virginia Mabhiza, the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary, said Mr Kasukuwere will be arrested if he returned home because he had two outstanding warrants against him for alleged corruption and abuse of office dating back to 2019.
Mrs Mabhiza’s claims were immediately dismissed by the presidential hopeful’s legal team, which said the warrants were rendered null and avoid after the Zanu PF heavyweight was acquitted of all the charges by courts.
Zimbabwe’s efforts to have the former minister put on Interpol’s wanted list failed after the international anti-crime body classified his case as political.
The frantic attempts to stop Mr Kasukuwere’s campaign by President Mnangagwa’s camp also includes court cases by two Zanu PF activists, who argue that Zimbabwe’s constitution does not allow candidates that have been outside the country for more than 18 months to contest in the presidential election.
Both cases are set to be heard by the courts next week and will determine whether President Mnangagwa will face a challenge from a former party colleague or the election will be a two horse race with Mr Chamisa.
President Mnangagwa won the disputed 2018 with 50,8 percent of the 4.8 million votes cast.
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: Mugabe's Loyalists Regroup against President Emmerson Mnangagwa){kind=link}
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