President Emmerson Mnangagwa has moved Obert Mpofu out of ZANU PF’s Politburo and into its Council of Elders, the latest step in a series of changes that has steadily reduced the veteran official’s place in the party’s active leadership.
The reassignment was announced on 15 October 2026, alongside the elevation of businessman and Cabinet minister Kudakwashe Tagwirei to the Politburo as Secretary for Economic Affairs and Investment Promotion. The announcement gave no reason for Mpofu’s transfer. But it landed amid a tense debate over proposed changes to the party constitution, signs of strain between Mnangagwa and Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, and a public rebuke by the President after senior officials missed a party fundraising dinner.
Party spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa said the appointments had been made by Mnangagwa through Secretary-General Jacob Mudenda under the party constitution. The announcement described Mpofu as “formerly the Secretary for Science and Technology” and said he “has been appointed to the Council of Elders”. It also said Tagwirei had been appointed to “the new re-designated position of Secretary for Economic Affairs and Investment Promotion”. The appointments took effect immediately.
Mpofu’s latest move is significant because it takes him out of a Politburo portfolio and into a separate party body. He previously held the powerful Secretary-General post, before being moved to an information and communications technology role. He later served as Secretary for Science and Technology. His transfer to the Council of Elders therefore marks another loss of active responsibility, after earlier changes had already taken him away from the party’s administrative centre.
The Council of Elders is generally understood to have a more advisory role than the Politburo, which directs the party between meetings of the Central Committee and congress. Political commentator Hopewell Chin’ono described the contrast between the posts in comments on the reshuffle.
“Mpofu is an ally of Vice President General Constantino Chiwenga, Mnangagwa’s chief rival in the succession battle as he prepares to put a successor in place of his own choice.
“The Council of Elders is largely advisory, so moving him there from an active portfolio will be read as a demotion that weakens the Chiwenga camp.
“Wadyajena’s appointment adds another Mnangagwa loyalist to the Central Committee, the body that runs the party between congresses. Together, the moves appear to strengthen Mnangagwa’s grip on the party and clear Tagwirei’s path, while squeezing Chiwenga’s allies.”
The reshuffle gives Tagwirei a prominent place in both party and government economic structures. He was recently sworn in as Minister of Economic Development and Investment Promotion, after the portfolio was separated from the Finance Ministry. His appointment to the Politburo followed his earlier entry into the Senate and Central Committee. The new party position puts him at the centre of ZANU PF’s economic affairs and investment agenda.
The timing has sharpened attention on the party’s succession question. Mnangagwa’s current presidential term was due to end in 2028, but a constitutional amendment signed into law in July extended presidential and parliamentary terms from five years to seven. It also changed the method of choosing the President from a direct popular vote to election by Parliament. The new provisions extend Mnangagwa’s term to 2030.
ZANU PF is now considering changes to its own constitution to align it with the amended national charter. That process has exposed disagreement over the proposals and how they should be discussed. Chiwenga’s allies have called for a longer period of consultation before amendments are considered by the party’s Central Committee. Party legal secretary Ziyambi Ziyambi has said provincial party bodies called for the alignment.
An extraordinary Politburo meeting scheduled to discuss the draft changes was cancelled in the days before the party’s annual conference. The cancellation came as senior party figures debated both the content of the proposals and the process for approving them. The argument matters because party rules shape leadership selection, the timing of internal elections and the route by which the party chooses its presidential candidate.
The dispute over constitutional changes formed the backdrop to a fundraising dinner held in Harare on 10 October. The event, organised to raise money for ZANU PF’s annual conference in Chinhoyi, had an initial target of US$6 million. Organisers later reported proceeds of about US$9.4 million. Chiwenga and Mpofu were among the senior figures who did not attend.
At a Politburo meeting on 13 October, Mnangagwa thanked the organisers before turning to officials who had missed the dinner. He said: “Some of you came, some of you did not come, but you’re members of the Politburo. You hear me?” The President did not name Chiwenga or Mpofu in the remark, but both had been absent from the event.
The rebuke came shortly after Chiwenga also missed Tagwirei’s swearing-in ceremony at State House. These public absences have added to attention on the relationship between the President and his deputy as Tagwirei’s political influence has grown. The party has not publicly stated that Mpofu’s absence from the fundraiser led to his reassignment, and its appointment notice offered no explanation for the move.
Mnangagwa’s own address to the Central Committee on 14 October called for discipline and unity as delegates gathered for the conference. He urged party members to “distinguish between principled contributions intended to improve the Party and reject conduct that seeks to divide or derail the Conference Agenda”. He added: “Preferences of cliques and narrow inclinations, among other retrogressive acts, have no place in our Party.”
The reshuffle has placed that appeal alongside a set of decisions that redistribute influence inside the ruling party. Mpofu has been removed from an active Politburo portfolio, while Tagwirei has gained a newly designated economic post and Wadyajena has returned to the Central Committee. With arguments over the party constitution and succession still under way, the consequences of those appointments are being felt as the party’s leadership prepares for its next decisions.