VICE President Constantino Chiwenga’s address at the Zanu PF conference in Mutare was no ordinary speech. It was a carefully crafted rebuke cloaked in the language of revolutionary reflection — a challenge to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vaulting ambitions.
In what may prove to be one of the most consequential interventions of his political career, Chiwenga used the symbolism of Mutare — the wartime gateway to Mozambique — to remind his comrades that the liberation struggle was not fought for personal aggrandisement.
He framed Vision 2030, often paraded by Mnangagwa as his defining national project, as a collective mission, not a presidential possession.
“Vision 2030,” Chiwenga said, “is about genuine economic empowerment, equipping all our people with the means to produce.”
The emphasis was deliberate. Beneath the rhetoric lay a stinging repudiation of efforts to turn that vision into a political tool to justify an unconstitutional term extension.
By describing the conference as one of “reflection and recommitment,” Chiwenga subtly exposed the irony of a gathering that appeared more choreographed than contemplative — a theatre of loyalty where delegates sang for a 2030 Mnangagwa presidency. His tone, though measured, carried the weight of confrontation.
Then came the historical turn — the invocation of General Josiah Magama Tongogara, the liberation hero whose name evokes sacrifice, discipline and moral clarity. Chiwenga’s reminder that Tongogara fought on “knowing he would not see a liberated Zimbabwe” was more than historical nostalgia. It was a moral mirror held up to Mnangagwa and his loyalists. The message was unmistakable: leadership is service, not entitlement; legacy, not longevity.
As his voice thundered through the auditorium, Chiwenga spoke of selfless stewardship and integrity — values he suggested were being eroded by corruption and greed.
“Ours is to carry forward the torch passed to us by those who gave everything without expectation of reward,” he said, a pointed rebuttal to the growing chorus seeking to crown Mnangagwa as life president.
In perhaps the most charged section of his speech, Chiwenga reminded delegates that Mutare’s historical role as a launchpad for freedom fighters should stir conscience, not complacency.
“They perished in hope,” he said of the fallen, “that their sacrifices would benefit future generations.”
If his listeners were unsettled, it was for good reason. Chiwenga was not merely reminiscing about the past; he was issuing a warning about the future. His references to Tongogara’s foretold death — and his insistence that leaders “are not the alpha and omega of Zimbabwe’s journey” — carried a chilling echo.
Those familiar with the bitter undercurrents in Zanu PF would have heard the subtext: Chiwenga, like Tongogara, knows the risks of standing against entrenched power, and he is prepared to face them.
By the time he declared that “Vision 2030 must be understood as a national covenant, not a political campaign,” the vice president had drawn a sharp moral and ideological line. He was defending not only the spirit of the liberation struggle but also the constitution that enshrines term limits — a subtle yet unmistakable challenge to his boss.
In Mutare, Chiwenga did more than deliver a speech. He threw down a gauntlet, appealing to history and conscience to halt what he portrayed as a betrayal of both. For a conference designed to display unity, the silence that followed his remarks spoke louder than the songs that preceded them.
Jealousy Mawarire is a journalist and political analyst
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