Categories: News

Zhuwao says Mnangagwa will not get 15 percent of the vote if elections are free and fair

Former president Robert Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao says President Emmerson Mnangagwa  is so unpopular that he will be thoroughly beaten at the next elections and will be lucky if he gets away with more than 15 percent of the votes.

He told the Voice of America’s Studio 7, a propaganda station that was originally started to be a surrogate of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, that Mnangagwa was unelectable that is why he had assumed power through the use of force.

Mnangagwa came to power on 24 November after military intervention which forced Mugabe to resign when Parliament was already in the process of impeaching him.

Zhuwao, who was speaking from an undisclosed location, said he could not disclose where he was because he feared for his life.

“Zvinoti netsei nokuti maitiro eava vanepfuti ava anenge anoti netsei. Zviye zvokuda kufamba uchizviti uri gamba unopedzisira wave gamba wave six feet under. Saka I zvinhu zvachona ndezvekungoita uchingohwanda hwanda,” he said in the 15-minute interview that was conducted in Shona.

He refuted reports that he accompanied his uncle when he returned to the country on Thursday after a medical check-up in Singapore, but said he came in and out of the country quite often.

He had no plans to return to Zimbabwe but would do so one day because the Mnangagwa regime was not going to last.

“Kudzokera tichadzokera. Ndiko kumusha. Ndiko kune rukuvhute.  Asi vakatora nyika nechisimba vanofanira kunge vabviswa ipapo nokuti vanhu vatinoziva kuti vanhu vasingaterere zvinenge zvabuda pasarudzo,” he said.

He said he was out of the country in Argentina when the military took over but two military vehicles went to his farm and harassed his wife and workers so much that some 13 workers he had recruited from Zvishavane walked all the way from Darwendale to Chegutu on foot before they were given money for transport through Ecocash.

Continued next page

(1036 VIEWS)

Page: 1 2

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Who propped whom: Masiyiwa vs Nyambirai?

A friend who knows about my legal battle with Zimbabwe’s richest man, Strive Masiyiwa, way…

May 1, 2026

Britain says amendment of the Zimbabwean Constitution is a sovereign, legislative matter for Zimbabwe to decide

Britain says amendment of the Zimbabwe constitution is a sovereign, legislative matter for Zimbabwe to…

March 24, 2026

Who started the war?

It is now 47 years since I wrote the short story below for a South…

March 4, 2026

Zimbabwe 2026 monetary policy statement at a glance

Zimbabwe has released its 2026 monetary policy statement in which it seeks to stabilise its…

March 1, 2026

Was Chombo Mugabe’s number two?

Far from it, on paper that is. Ignatius Chombo was one of the longest serving…

February 6, 2026

Zimbabwe’s 2026 citizen’s budget

Zimbabwe on Thursday announced a ZiG290.9 billion budget with revenue expected to be ZiG287.6 billion,…

November 30, 2025