Higher Education Minister Jonathan Moyo was one of the newly appointed government ministers who persuaded President Robert Mugabe not to step down in 2001, former Murehwa Member of Parliament Victor Chitongo said.
Chitongo told a United States embassy official in September 2002 that Mugabe was ready to retire in 2001 but was urged to stay on by Patrick Chinamasa, Joseph Made and Jonathan Moyo.
He claimed that Mugabe, who had just been re-elected for a six-year term in 2002, was ready to retire in three years which would have coincided with the Parliamentary elections of 2005.
He said if Mugabe were to step down then, there was going to be a nasty power struggle because there was no obvious successor.
Simba Makoni, who has just been dismissed as Finance Minister, had been the favourite among the younger set.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was Speaker of Parliament at the time, had become the only clear heir apparent, but he was favoured by the old guard.
Mugabe is still in power after narrowly pulling through in 2008 and being re-elected in 2013. He is the party candidate for 2018.
Below are the Wikileaks cables that mention Moyo’s name:
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