In a bid to reconcile with his deputy as their fallout has reached a crescendo, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has reportedly begged for a stopover meeting with Vice President Rtd General Constantino Chiwenga, who is in China on his way back home from Japan, Spotlight Zimbabwe, has been told.

Mnangagwa is attending the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD) summit, which began on Wednesday and ends today.

TICAD is a summit-level international conference regarding development of Africa, launched by Japan in 1993, and led by Tokyo with co-hosts such as the United Nations, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and the African Union Commission (AUC).

According to two senior government officials on the trip travelling with the presidential delegation, Mnangagwa’s return itinerary includes an unofficial transit stop in China, where the Zanu PF leader allegedly wants to explain himself to Chiwenga and try to iron out differences, which Mnangagwa believes have been ratchet up by his political foes in government and the ruling party.

This publication exclusively reported a fortnight ago, that Chiwenga had started to fully recover from his health woes at a top notch Beijing military hospital and is bouncing back.

We also reported last month that the former military chief was being treated at The General Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army (PLAGH) in the Chinese capital, and that China’s medical experts had found an antidote for him, after suspectedly suffering multiple poisoning attacks through food and his home water supply, from his foes in the ruling Zanu-PF angling for his job.

The institution attending to the VP has provided health and medical care to the leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, the PLA’s general headquarters, and to the troops stationed in Beijing.

A picture of a healthy looking Chiwenga has since surfaced on the internet and social media, after being posted by former Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development minister in President Robert Mugabe’s government, Professor Jonathan Moyo, on his Twitter handle.

“Mukuru will pass by vakuru vedu in China( The president is going to pass through China to meet the vice president.),” said the officials. “The official line is that mukuru is visiting vakuru to check on his health progress, since he was visiting Japan, which is just next door to China. They’re also claiming that the plane needs to refuel for the long journey back to Harare, but the truth is that mukuru wants to explain himself and iron out growing differences between him and our vice president, which he believes are being created and intensified by his nemesis in government and Zanu PF. The president wants to meet face to face with him, and dispel a lot of rumours surrounding the VP’s poisoning, which have been attributed to operatives in his camp.”

It was not apparent last night whether or not Chiwenga had accepted to see Mnangagwa, as the two have not been on talking terms, despite government propaganda claiming the contrary. The officials also said Mnangagwa wanted to negotiate for a dignified exit from office, and avoid being booted out unceremoniously amid confirmation that he had accepted to resign and leave office by August next year, as the army readies for either Chiwenga to takeover or a civilian leader of their picking, with another former minister in Mugabe’s administration, Saviour Kasukuwere’s name popping up as hot favourite.

“There is an intelligence dossier that has been prepared by the military highlighting their investigations and findings around the illness and poisoning of the VP, which must have been deliberately leaked to the Central Intelligence Organisation and obviously Mnangagwa got hold of it. He will seek to clear his name with Chiwenga, and also assure him that nobody was vying for his job following reports of some party heavyweights jostling for his post in anticipation of his incapacitation.”

“There’s also the issue of petroleum interests between the two and their factional supporters. Mnangagwa also wants guarantees for his businesses, which include mining and farms, when he steps down, without risking their forfeiture by the state. The president also wants to be allowed to stay in the country and be allowed to travel freely in and out of Zimbabwe like Mugabe,” the officials said.

Information minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, was not reachable for comment yesterday, while officials in the ministry’s permanent secretary, Nick Mangwana’s office, insisted that Spotlight Zimbabwe sends it’s media questions via fax. The fax number was out of order, when we tried to fax our questions.

— Spotlight Zimbabwe