The jigsaw puzzle of the post-Mugabe era

Political pundits point at likely key players in the expected Zim settlement

Assuming that President Robert Mugabe steps down, the following are likely to be key players in the expected settlement, according to political sources in Zimbabwe, South Africa and several years of Zimbabwean intelligence documents seen by Reuters:

EMMERSON MNANGAGWA

(Likely president) – A lifelong Mugabe aide and 1970s liberation war veteran known as “The Crocodile”, Mnangagwa, 75, was in the pole position to succeed Mugabe until his progress was impeded by the political ascent of Mugabe’s wife, Grace.

His sacking as vice-president intended to clear a path for Grace to the presidency and appears to have been the trigger for the army to step in to advance its preferred successor.

MORGAN TSVANGIRAI

– A former union leader who founded the Movement for Democratic Change in the late 1990s, Tsvangirai, 65, has been Mugabe’s main political rival for two decades.

CONSTANTINO CHIWENGA

Tsvangirai has been undergoing treatment for cancer outside Zimbabwe, but returned to Harare on Wednesday.

– As the military chief who engineered the coup, Chiwenga is expected to win a senior role in the interim administration.

Chiwenga, 61, was sanctioned by the US and EU although the EU removed him from its list of in 2014.

JOICE MUJURU

– A liberation war veteran with the nom de guerre “Spill Blood”, Mujuru, 62, formed her own political party after being ousted as vice-president in 2014.

DUMISO DABENGWA

– Moscow-trained Dabengwa, 77, nicknamed “The Black Russian”, fought in the 1970s anticolonial struggle for Zipra (Zimbabwe People’s Liberation Army), a rival to Mugabe’s Zanla (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army).

His incorporation in any unity government would ensure it represented both wings of the liberation struggle.

TENDAI BITI

– Biti, 51, won accolades as finance minister in the 2009/13 government that stabilised the economy.