PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has downplayed a glaring rift with his deputy, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, describing it as normal in a revolutionary party like ZANU PF, but warned that those who fail to toe the party line will fall by the wayside.
For the first time since the start of the Second Republic—in which the two played significant roles in the November 2017 coup that ousted Robert Mugabe —the duo publicly exchanged barbs on stage during the 23rd ZANU PF National People’s Conference in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West Province.
Chiwenga, who by protocol speaks first to introduce Mnangagwa as guest of honour, took the opportunity to indirectly lash out at his principal, questioning whether the mistakes that triggered the collapse of the First Republic led by Mugabe were not being repeated.
“Hatisi kudzokorodza here zvatakanganisa zvakaita kuti second republic ivepo,” retorted Chiwenga.
“Are we not repeating the same mistakes which caused the second republic to be there.”
Chiwenga was influential in Operation Restore Legacy, the military intervention which justified its overthrow of Mugabe’s government on the grounds that there was endemic corruption in government by ‘criminals surrounding Mugabe’, then known as G40.
Now, Chiwenga has embarked on an anti-corruption crusade and labelled unscrupulous businessmen, derogatorily known as ‘Zvigananda’ linked to current President Mnangagwa who have amassed ill-gotten wealth.
However, Mnangagwa, speaking to the press after the ZANU PF conference in Chinhoyi at the weekend, described the antagonism between him and his deputy as normal in his party, saying differences are expected.
“ZANU PF is united. In any movement, you have people who divert from the centre of the party. That is expected. But overall, the party is united. If you have a party and from January to December you find no dissenting voice, something is wrong,” he said.
But Mnangagwa warned that failure to toe the party line has consequences.
“Any revolutionary party will always have people that fail to run the correct line and fall by the wayside,” he added.
Provincial chairpersons, including Daniel Garwe of Mashonaland East and Midlands’ Edson Chiherenge, took turns to offer messages of solidarity to Mnangagwa following the party’s resolutions and did not miss the opportunity to directly fire salvos at the retired army general who is opposed to Mnangagwa’s bid to extend his incumbency to 2030.
Garwe, in a brazen reference to Chiwenga, said a bad follower today would be a bad leader tomorrow while Chiherenge said the vice president’s time has not come yet.
Mnangagwa’s second and final term was due to expire in 2028 but was extended through the enactment of Constitutional Amendment Number 3 Act, which suspended elections while the weekend indaba in Chinhoyi cemented this plot by resolving to rejig the party constitution to align with the country’s supreme law, thereby effectively clearing the way for the ageing ZANU PF leader to entrench his rule.
