A faction of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) says Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is their preferred successor to President Emmerson Mnangagwa whose second and final term ends in 2028.
This comes amid reports that the ZNLWVA had splintered into several factions as divisions, which mirrors factions within the ruling ZANU PF party.
Andreas Ethan Mathibela, who leads one of the ZNLWVA factions, expressed outrage over comments made by Mnangagwa’s biographer, Eddie Cross, that Chiwenga will never be the President of Zimbabwe.
Speaking in a recent interview with The Standard, Mathibela said Chiwenga, as the deputy president, is the right candidate to take over from Mnangagwa. He said:
We heard a few months ago Eddie Cross saying that the vice president, Constantine Chiwenga will not be able to succeed the president upon the end of his tenure.
The statement came as a surprise to us as war veterans because in the first place, Eddie Cross is an ex-Rhodie and I do not see him anywhere near the geopolitics of this country.
He is not even in the rank and file of the ruling party and we wonder as war veterans where he got the locus standi to make such a declaration.
We wonder where he gets the authority to say that the deputy president of the party, someone who, in terms of hierarchy and constitution of the party, is the right candidate to ascend to the throne, will not ascend when the right time comes.
Mathibela claimed that Chiwenga has an untainted record and is someone “who has the ability to rule this country.” He said:
War veterans, and we are sure the same goes for Zimbabweans who are politically conscious, are wondering what exactly underlies these dangerous assertions from a person like Eddie Cross.
Chiwenga is one of our own who fought for this country. He is a decorated soldier, who has the ability to rule this country.
He is someone that we believe has the capacity to end the madness that is happening in this country where people can sabotage an economy at will and walk scot-free.
We believe this madness can be stopped by a trained cadre because that cadre needs to have discipline installed in him at training and we believe Chiwenga has all that.
He further stated that Chiwenga is not a tribalist, has no scandal, and shuns nepotism, making him the right person to succeed Mnangagwa. Said Mathibela:
There is nothing amiss about him. He has no scandal and skeletons in his cabinet and he had been, during his time in the army, a straightforward soldier.
We would be very happy under his rule as long as he does not harbour tribal tendencies, nepotism, and all the ills that have bedevilled this country in the past.
He has the passion to see this country in a better place and we believe that no Rhodesian can say anything regarding Chiwenga’s ascendancy to the throne or let alone condemn him as an unfit candidate. Where do those guts come from? We wonder.
ZANU PF spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa allegedly leads the other ZNLWVA faction, which supported the coup that toppled the late former President, Robert Mugabe in November 2017.
