Mnangagwa vs Chiwenga:Who owes who?

The ZANU-PF national conference that was being held in Mutare has raised the tempo on the so-called rift between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.

I say so-called rift because I think the differences between the two are being exaggerated.

Chiwenga is said to be against calls to extend Mnangagwa’s current term which ends in 2028 to 2030. He says this is unconstitutional and is being pushed by corrupt elements within Mnangagwa’s circles who want to continue looting the country.

This argument is not new. It was first raised by former politburo member and former boss of Zimbabwe Defence Industries Tshingha Dube. He told mourners at the burial of war hero, Killioon Dube that those who were advising Mnangagwa to stay on were problematic.

“Advisers are problematic, those advising him are only looking at things that benefit themselves only. We must be careful with advice that we give to the President so that it does not benefit individuals only because we want his legacy to remain; these things can destroy his legacy after working so hard as minister, surviving the hangman’s noose and at the end of the day his legacy is destroyed like that.”

Chiwenga is saying the same thing. But he is more forthright because he has named the people involved. But what is interesting about the ongoing debate is that some circles say Mnangagwa is ungrateful. He owes Chiwenga for bringing him to power in the 2017 army-backed takeover. He should therefore step-down and let Chiwenga take over.

But this is not all. Chiwenga bailed out Mnangagwa when he was poisoned at the Gwanda rally the same year.

This argument, however, is too simplistic. Indeed, Chiwenga did what the people say he did but Mnangagwa also did Chiwenga a big favour. Elevating him to one of his deputies was just a small favour. The big favour was giving Chiwenga life. Chiwenga himself admitted this in November 2019 when he returned from China after spending 123 days in hospital.

“I want to thank personally my President, His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, if he had not intervened the time I was in the intensive care in South Africa, I could have been history by now, and when he communicated with his counterpart President Xi Jinping, I was then taken to China . . . he did not act as the President but acted as my brother to make sure that I survive . . .”

What could be more important than giving someone life?

So who did the other a greater favour?

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