A Zanu PF Manicaland Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting descended into violence on Monday after militant youths stormed the gathering, which insiders say had been convened to consider a vote of no confidence in provincial chairperson Tawanda Mukodza.

The chaos erupted at the Government Complex in Mutare, forcing attendees to flee for safety as the situation escalated rapidly.

During the melee, a provincial member identified only as Jani sustained visible injuries, with witnesses reporting scratches to his face and blood stains following the attack.

Zanu PF activist and Varakashi member Snowball Tongogara said Jani narrowly escaped with his life.

“Provincial member Cde Jani feared for his life after beaten by paid thugs which disrupted the PEC meeting at the Government Complex in Mutare,” Tongogara wrote on his X account on Monday.

Another Zanu PF activist, Kudzai Mutisi, also confirmed the incident and called for the dissolution of the Manicaland provincial leadership. He urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa to take decisive action against what he described as growing lawlessness within party structures.

“The party should dissolve the Manicaland Executive and start afresh… They were all compromised…. President @edmnangagwa shouldn’t tolerate this thuggery at all…,” Mutisi wrote on his X account on Monday.

Contacted for comment, Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa told NewZimbabwe.com that he was still gathering full details of the incident but acknowledged being aware of the unrest. He attributed the violence to possible infiltration by outsiders and vowed firm action.

“I am just seeing there is something happened in Manicaland now. I?m trying to find out. It is obvious that we have been infiltrated by some outsiders. We will find out and deal with them decisively,” Mutsvangwa said.

Manicaland has, in recent months, emerged as a political fault line within Zanu PF as debate intensifies around the 2030 agenda. Senior party figures are widely perceived to be positioning themselves ahead of President Mnangagwa’s constitutionally mandated retirement in 2028.

Reports of attempts to extend his tenure beyond that date have stirred controversy both within and outside the ruling party, exposing internal tensions that are now increasingly spilling into the public domain.