Tagwirei Has Money, But No Mass Appeal – Mutsvangwa

In what sounded more like a personal swipe than an official party stance, ZANU PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa on Monday dismissed businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei reported plan to seek the party’s presidency, saying it will not succeed.

Speaking at a press conference in Harare, Mutsvangwa slammed Tagwirei’s alleged strategy of winning support by handing out gifts, cars, and cash, arguing that it’s not a sustainable way to build real influence.

He also warned that ZANU PF can’t afford to put up wealthy individuals with no grassroots appeal as candidates, sayingit could lead to embarrassing losses at the polls. Said Mutsvangwa:

If you think you can buy (the presidency), try buying all the voters of Zimbabwe, and then we’ll know you’re the real deal.

Now if you try to use the electoral college who are representative of the party organs we can always wave the rule book against you.

Alternatively we just deepen the electorate of ZANU PF. If you think you can buy the central committee we throw district committees in, and see if you can go to all corners of the country buying them.

We can also throw in the branches, and see if your bag of cash could sustain that as you seek their votes. If that fails we can send you to the party cells.

This is a party which has a mass organisation aspect, and when we go to elections we don’t vote by electoral colleges, we vote by the population of Zimbabwe.

ZANU PF cannot afford to blink about appeal to popularity because if you do so you get false leaders who will lose elections in 2028 because elections are done by mass universal suffrage.

So for sheer survival as a party we cannot afford to have electoral colleges of the party become substitutes for the mass popular vote which is the basis upon which we rule this country.

Don’t attempt to use money and cars. If you buy the leadership of Harare province are you also going to go and buy Bulawayo province, Mutare, Mashonaland Central and so on?

Tagwirei is said to have made his money through government contracts and has recently been mentioned as a possible successor to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mnangagwa is expected to step down as ZANU PF leader at the party’s 2027 congress, ahead of the end of his final term as State President in 2028.

More: ZimLive

Related:

The Real Meaning Of One Man, One Vote – And Why Amendment Bill No. 3 Doesn’t Violate It Mutsvangwa Pays Emotional Tribute To Matemadanda