By Correspondent
In September 2025, ZANU-PF Chairperson Oppah Muchinguri said something which revealed the basis for Vice President Chiwenga being politically rambunctious.
Responding to a dossier which the VP had presented and essentially pushed for Mnangagwa’s resignation, Muchinguri reminded him that they had all fought in the liberation war.
According to credible reports, she explained that only their paths diverged at independence, with Chiwenga becoming a soldier while others entered government.
Muchinguri reportedly told Chiwenga, a retired commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, that there was “nothing special about coming from the barracks.”
Clearly, Chiwenga has been ruffling feathers and pushing the boundaries of discipline within the party, premised on the weight of him being a military kingpin.
The fact that the army, under his leadership, gave birth to the 2nd dispensation added more weight to his position.
However, having learnt from Mugabe’s demise, Mnangagwa has not been sleeping at the wheel.
He has been rearranging his pieces on the chessboard with the latest appointment of General Valerio Sibanda into the Politburo, the gambit that checkmates Chiwenga.
Checkmating Soldier To Soldier
Sibanda comes into the ZANU-PF Politburo with the same military weight as Chiwenga.
He is a former ZIPRA liberation war veteran and one of Zimbabwe’s longest-serving military commanders.
He commanded the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) from 2003 to 2017 before leading the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) from 2017 to 2025.
Over the course of two decades, he held a prominent position within the upper echelons of Zimbabwe’s military command hierarchy, cultivating a reputation among his contemporaries as a disciplined strategist of military affairs.
This is unlike Chiwenga, who is reported to have been seen by compatriots as being too political.
Retired Major-General Herbert Chingono, who was found dead at his farmhouse in Mazowe in March, described Chiwenga in 2010 as a “political general”.
The remarks were revealed in WikiLeaks diplomatic cables.
According to the cables, Chingono and the late Major-General Fidelis Satuku described Chiwenga as a ” political general” with limited military expertise.
They predicted that he would prioritise political ambitions over military judgment.
The leaks stated: “General Constantine Chiwenga is a political general who works hard, but who has very little practical experience or expertise.
“Given a choice between a military and political issue, Chiwenga will always choose the political because he doesn’t know enough about the military to be comfortable discussing it.”
Thus, the entrance of Sibanda into the Politburo places a direct counter to whatever military weight Chiwenga sought to throw around.
Even more damaging for his political ambitions, Sibanda will provide the military angle to the Mnangagwa faction, which Chiwenga has been trolling as Zvigananda.
Suddenly, Chiwenga has to contest not just against the money-bags in the party but another military man!
No Movie-Ending For Chiwenga!
From here, it may get even worse when the Vice President Kembo Mohadi case comes up.
Mohadi has for a long time sought to exit the corridors of power and even resigned in March 2021.
At the time, he said he had stepped down to save the government’s image after being accused of bedding married women and subordinates seconded to his office.
He denied the allegations, adding that he was a victim of information distortion, sponsored spooking and political sabotage.
However, 2 years later Mohadi and co-vice president, Chiwenga, were sworn in by Chief Justice Luke Malaba in Harare.
Since then, Mohadi has not appeared well and appears only to be biding time for something to happen.
That something appears to be the emergence of Sibanda in the Politburo.
Both are from the ZAPU part of the Unity Accord, and Sibanda, as the most senior figure, may be well-placed to replace Mohadi as VP.
Suddenly, Chiwenga is hedged on not just one side by ED, but three, involving the rumoured ambitions of Tagwirei plus the 4th swimmer, Sibanda (cue Prophet Ndhlovu)!
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