Mutsvangwa, who is known to harbour his own ambitions for the Zanu PF leadership, appears to view the retired army general as a significant obstacle to his aspirations.
The explosive tirade was delivered during an interview with Dug Up on February 17, 2025, but the recording was only released on Friday, according to sources at ZimLive. The timing of the release has fuelled speculation about the motives behind the leak.
The source of Mutsvangwa’s fury seems to stem from Chiwenga’s alleged attempts to be “anointed” by President Mnangagwa as his successor, a move that would effectively shut the door on other potential candidates.
He further alluded to historical precedent within Zanu PF, referencing the late Robert Mugabe’s approach to succession: “(Robert) Mugabe used to say I will nominate, I will give you my successor but the president (Mnangagwa) is saying no, we must go for elections. That’s normal for a democratic party.”
With Zanu PF scheduled to hold its elective congress in 2027, just a year before Mnangagwa’s final term concludes in 2028, the battle for succession is already heating up.
Mutsvangwa is openly dismissive of Chiwenga’s chances of securing the party’s mandate and ultimately winning the presidency in the 2028 general elections. He cited Chiwenga’s widely criticised handling of his divorce from Mary Mubaiwa as a major impediment to his electoral prospects.
“Can you imagine half of the electorate are women in this country, more than half, and you’ve decapitated the legs and limbs of your former wife through cruelty and you’re refusing her to see her children including one she came with into your marriage,” Mutsvangwa stated.
He even claimed that Mnangagwa had considered pardoning Mubaiwa but was blocked by Chiwenga, who allegedly said, “you can’t do that.”
Mutsvangwa continued his scathing assessment: “He wreaks of cruelty against all women in the country. He can’t win, he doesn’t want elections and the president has uppended him by saying we’re going to congress, can you go and sell yourself to the electorate, the party electorate, and meanwhile you’ve baggage like that.”
Beyond the allegations of cruelty, Mutsvangwa also attacked Chiwenga’s intellectual capacity, asserting that his lack of formal education renders him unfit to lead the country. He mocked Chiwenga’s alleged difficulty in pronouncing the letter “l” in English words, attributing it to the absence of the letter in the Shona language.
“Remember if you want to know if a Shona person never went to school put an L in front of them. Because R comes from the mother and L comes from the teacher. That’s the basic litmus test of an illiterate Shona person. So he never managed to graduate from the mother’s alphabet,” Mutsvangwa declared.
He further argued that military service should not be considered a substitute for education: “That you went to the war is not an excuse, some of us went to war but returned to school and went to university. Going to war is no substitute for illiteracy and ignorance.”
Mutsvangwa questioned Chiwenga’s ability to command respect, given his alleged lack of education: “You were commanding an army by contrivency, while you’re an illiterate. Commanding an army of boys and girls who joined the war coming from Thekwani, Tsambe, Mukaro and Cyrene. These are the people who fought and went back to school and you wind up as their commander. How do you command such an erudite and educated army while you’re illiterate? You think you can endear yourself to them?”
In a claim that has since been disputed, Mutsvangwa also alleged that Chiwenga played no significant role in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) war, despite Zimbabwe’s military intervention in the conflict. However, numerous soldiers who served in the DRC have stated that they recall Chiwenga visiting them on the front lines.
“When Zimbabwe went to the DRC he was blocked, he didn’t even go there to command. He doesn’t know anything about that war,” Mutsvangwa claimed.
The fallout from Mutsvangwa’s explosive interview has been swift. Zanu PF recently expelled several members accused of disloyalty, including Gifford Gomwe, the former secretary for local government in Mashonaland West.
On Sunday, Gomwe wrote to Mary Mliswa, the Mashonaland West provincial chairperson, demanding that action be taken against Mutsvangwa for his remarks.
“Honourable Vice President CDGN Chiwenga is a presidential appointee and the attacks by Cde Mutsvagwa might seem as if the president has made a mistake in appointing him which is also a direct attack on President Mnangagwa,” Gomwe wrote.
He further argued that Mutsvangwa’s actions should be met with the same disciplinary measures applied to other party members: “We have lower level cadres who were expelled from the party due to purpoted social media abuse. I strongly advocate for a corrective action against Cde Mutsvangwa. It would be noticeable that Cde Mutsvangwa has implied impunity from Mashonaland West if no action is taken against his person.”
Sources within Zanu PF have described Chiwenga as “absolutely fuming” upon learning of Mutsvangwa’s comments. He is reportedly scheduled to meet with President Mnangagwa on Monday to demand action against his outspoken rival. The meeting is expected to be tense, with the future of both Mutsvangwa and the stability of Zanu PF potentially hanging in the balance.
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