ABSTRACT
This chapter interrogates the interface between politics and religion within the context of ZANU PF succession struggles. It pays special attention to how spiritual events and discourses were mobilised to achieve political ends within ZANU PF. The chapter argues that the appropriation and mobilisation of religion by political elites in the party smacks of a calculated and convenient strategy designed to advance agendas of self-aggrandisement. It highlights some notable cases where ZANU PF elites appropriated and mobilised religion in their political discourse and, second, to interrogate the rationale for political elites to resort to religion in their quest for political survival. From the late 1990s to about 2004, factional feuds within ZANU PF were dominated by two main kingpins, Dr Eddison J. Mudadirwa Zvobgo and Simon Vengai Muzenda. The unending internecine struggles between the G40 and Team Lacoste took a toll on ZANU PF members and the nation, at large. Something had to give.
