“Power-Hungry Traitor!” Mutsvangwa Blasts Chiwenga for Hijacking Conference in Explosive ZANU PF Succession War
HARARE — ZANU PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa on Saturday launched a scathing counterattack against Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, accusing him of cynically abusing the party’s Annual National People’s Conference to push his own “dictatorial aspiration for political power” against President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mutsvangwa told The NewsHawks that Chiwenga “opportunistically abused the granted privilege to introduce H.E. (Mnangagwa) as guest of honour.” He dismissed the vice-president’s remarks as a “dissonant welter of ‘wrongs’” that were brushed aside by the gathering.
“He laboured in vain much like a loose bolt in a car engine. He remained thereafter hoping for follow up support. None came. He was just shrugged off. No political harvest at all for unrequited political ambition,” Mutsvangwa said.
“The EDM bus of economic deliverables through Vision 2030 and Prospect of Middle Income Nation Prosperity rolled over his self-centred and furtive pursuit of dictatorial aspiration for political power.”
Chiwenga’s speech on Friday, delivered while introducing Mnangagwa, launched a pointed critique of the president’s leadership and the broader record of the Second Republic.
He asked what motivated the 2017 military-assisted transition that removed former president Robert Mugabe, answering that it was intended to correct past mistakes, and then posed the question: “Are we not repeating the same mistakes?”
The vice-president called for a “brutal and honest self-appraisal” of ZANU PF. He questioned whether conference resolutions truly reflected the will of ordinary grassroots members or were being imposed by a select few at the top.
Chiwenga emphasised that the party belongs to the people rather than individuals, describing leaders as “temporary custodians.” Using a Shona expression, he warned against “mazvake mazvake” — individualistic and self-serving pursuits — stating that such an approach leads the party nowhere.
Mutsvangwa said Chiwenga had seized the protocol opportunity to introduce the president in order to display “unchecked presidential ambitions” instead of focusing on the conference agenda.
The spokesperson has previously defended Mnangagwa against challenges from his deputy and accused Chiwenga of attempting to turn the party presidium into a “kangaroo court.”
The bitter exchange has laid bare the deepening and increasingly public rivalry within ZANU PF’s top leadership, as the party’s succession battle intensifies.