President Emmerson Mnangagwa has put in place coup-proof mechanisms to strengthen his hold on Zanu-PF and the state by appeasing the army and war veterans.
Mnangagwa ascended to the top job two years ago with the help of the army, but insiders say he fears going the same way as Robert Mugabe - in a military coup.
This week he granted generous budgets to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and war veterans. The two groups have recently raised concerns about the negative effects of the economy on their livelihoods.
The ministry of defence and war veterans got $3.1bn, the single biggest allocation of the 2020 budget. In his budget presentation, finance minister Mthuli Ncube said the Treasury had to "prioritise allocations and disbursements to the security sector".
A fortnight ago the Sunday Times reported that defence minister Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri warned "not to take this peace for granted".
In the 2019 budget Ncube allocated the biggest share, US$1.5bn, to education.
One reason given for the coup against Mugabe was that he had forsaken the veterans. During the succession battle in Zanu-PF, Mugabe unleashed the police on veterans as relations between him and his once strong allies hit a record low.
Army tanks rolled into Harare in November 2017 because Mugabe did not reverse the dismissal of party members and cabinet ministers who had taken part in the liberation war.
In the budget, Ncube increased the "non-wage-linked" budget to cater for the servicing and procurement of machinery in the military. He also vowed to revive the army's arms manufacturing company, Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI).
At its peak in the 1990s, ZDI brokered deals between the Chinese and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also made mortar rounds, light armoured fighting vehicles and landmines.
You can't starve your boss. That's the unwritten rule in military states. A happy army is a cushion for rulers, especially in a country where there has been a fresh coup
"Government will leverage on the expertise of the security sector in implementation of projects and the need to capacitate the Zimbabwe Defence Industries," Ncube said.
He said the army would be given tenders in public projects such as roadworks.
Ncube said houses were being built for soldiers in Dzivarasekwa and Tomlinson Flats in Harare. The extension of the army's Manyame Hospital is also under way.
William Mpofu of the University of SA said a lot was "out of order" with the budget.
"When it comes to the army and war vets, it's all about the president's power retention. Remember these two groups have dislodged a sitting president in the past. If not prioritised they are a danger to Mnangagwa," said the academic.
Innocent Ncube, a political scientist, said the budget was in line with countries that had a military hand in government.
"You can't starve your boss. That's the unwritten rule in military states. A happy army is a cushion for rulers, especially in a country where there has been a fresh coup," he said.
War veterans comprise mostly retired army officers who earn a monthly pension of ZWL$300 (US$15).
The finance minister allocated funds for them to take up income-generating projects. He also allocated money for their medical costs and school fees for their children and grandchildren.
Ncube said this was to compensate for their "immense sacrifice to the nation".
He allocated ZWL$1.5m for a cattle-rearing project, which was one of the income-generating plans.
Last week the politburo, Zanu-PF's central decision-making body, resolved to include the war veterans as an official structure in Zanu-PF.
The politburo meeting agreed that war veterans should be integrated as a wing of the party at its forthcoming conference in Goromonzi, Mashonaland East.
Party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo told reporters after the politburo meeting on Tuesday that the president was worried about [his internal political rival] G40 elements that needed to be crushed.
"He [Mnangagwa] challenged the politburo leadership to be more visible at grassroots and associate with programmes of government, always giving people a message of hope. Those hobnobbing with G40 elements stand warned," he said.
Mnangagwa's deputy minister of information, Energy Mutodi, this week claimed on Twitter that G40 elements were working on guerrilla tactics, "using house maids to administer poison, explosives and other harmful substances including ambushes".
The worry around securing Mnangagwa's power base was also influenced by Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, who last week in the South African parliament moved a motion challenging Mnangagwa to let political exiles linked to G40 return home. He also called on Mnangagwa to protect Mugabe's widow, Grace.
A Zanu-PF insider said this had further worsened suspicion that the G40 was working with Zanu-PF insiders to humiliate Mnangagwa.
"Malema already has one in the bag. He flew into Zimbabwe and spoke for the Mugabe family, and what happened next was a breakdown between the former first family and the president, when they went ahead to bury Mugabe in Zvimba despite initially agreeing for a special Heroes' Acre burial.
"He [Malema] came to Zimbabwe with advice from G40 people. Now they are using him to get back home via the back door and cause trouble," said the Zanu-PF source.
Mnangagwa, in a meeting with the Zanu-PF Youth League, also raised fears for his job last week, saying there were elements in the party bent on criticising him and setting him up to fail.
Mutodi was last week quoted in the press as saying: "Some of these youths write some colourful messages praising the president, while in the background they plan his downfall."
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