Mugabe Refuses To Choose Successor

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe says he will not appoint a successor as jostling for his post continues to intensify.

President Mugabe told Ghanian-born British filmmaker Roy Agyemang in a BBC documentary that he had assessed his potential successors but wanted Zimbabweans to choose their next leader.

“I have people in mind who would want to be. But I have looked at them.

“I have not come to any conclusion as to which one, really, should be. I leave it to the choice of people. Perhaps when we get close to the election I will have some in mind,” he said

Zimbabwe will hold its next elections in 2018 but President Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, has refused to talk about his retirement.

His Zanu PF party would hold an elective congress in December this year but his position is unlikely to be contested.

However, the party is reportedly divided into two factions, one that backs Vice President Joice Mujuru and Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over from President Mugabe.

The long time ruler recently told his clan that none of the touted successors were guaranteed of the top job.

“It must be leadership that derives from the people, chosen by the people, goes back to the people, listens to the people and is guided by the demands of the people,” he told the BBC.

President Mugabe has been accused of manipulating elections to remain in power despite reports of his failing health and waning popularity.

In the past, he has said that he would not retire as long as his party is divided and is facing disintegration.

Last year he won a presidential election overwhelmingly after stumbling in the 2008 polls where he lost the first round to longtime opponent Morgan Tsvangirai.

Zanu PF has also regained the two thirds majority it had lost to the opposition that same year.