ZANU PF's Mahiya Dismisses War Veterans' Call For Mnangagwa To Step Down
Douglas Mahiya, the ZANU PF Secretary for War Veterans, Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees, and Restrictees, has criticized ZANU PF Central Committee member and fellow war veteran Blessing Runesu Geza for opposing the party’s plans to amend the Constitution, which would allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to run for a third term.
On Sunday, January 26, Geza, along with five other veterans, publicly called for Mnangagwa to step down, declaring that he was “not fit to run this country.”
The group also rejected any changes to the Constitution and dismissed Mnangagwa’s assurances that he had no intentions of staying in power beyond 2028.
In an interview with The Herald in Harare on Tuesday, Mahiya dismissed their position as part of a “foreign agenda” aimed at sowing discord within the party. Said Mahiya:
ZANU PF will not listen to misguided elements. Cde Geza’s sentiments do not represent the position of war veterans. They are advancing the interests of their handlers, who are yet to be identified. This is a foreign agenda meant to cause disharmony within the party.
Once a decision is made at the conference or congress, war veterans cannot oppose it. The decision of the majority will stand.
At the conference held in Bulawayo in October 2024, ZANU PF passed a resolution, Resolution Number 1 from the 21st National People’s Conference, to amend the Constitution for the President to remain in office until 2030.
