By Fanuel James
The statement this week by the War Veterans Pressure Group led by Rueben Zulu, endorsing Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and denouncing what it called intolerance at the Chinhoyi Conference, has been dismissed by some as the noise of a briefcase formation.
In the context of past experiences, that would be a mistake.
To understand its significance, you must rewind to 2014.
The ED Template And How It Started
When Emmerson Mnangagwa was isolated, humiliated and eventually fired in November 2017, it was not the Central Committee that first defended him.
It was the war veterans.
Chris Mutsvangwa, then as now a polarizing figure, turned the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association into a political battering ram.
They held press conferences that Mugabe’s government declared treasonous.
War veterans boycotted and issued communiques calling the Party “adrift.” They framed their defence of one man as a defence of the liberation legacy itself.
Their language then: “We did not fight to create a dynasty.” “The Party has been hijacked by counter-revolutionaries.” “The principles of the struggle are being betrayed.”
Their language now, by Zulu’s group: “We did not fight to replace colonial authoritarianism with indigenous authoritarianism.”
“The Party has drifted from people-centered decision making.” “Organized booing replaced comradely debate.”
The vocabulary may be different but the grammar is identical.
The Three-Act Structure of a ZANU PF Split
Every succession battle in ZANU PF, so far, follows a three-act structure.
Act One: The incumbent secures a resolution to extend his rule. In 2014 it was the push for Dr Amai to succeed and today it is the 2030 resolution.
Act Two: A war veterans faction breaks ranks, claiming the legacy is under threat. In 2016, they were dismissed as “dissidents” and expelled. This week, Zulu’s group has already been dismissed as “briefcase.”
Act Three: The dispute moves from the Party constitution to the national Constitution itself.
Then, it was about whether Mugabe could anoint his wife; now, it is about Constitutional Amendment No. 3 of 2026.
The Human Factor: A Pact That Became Personal
What makes this moment human, and therefore dangerous, is that the actors know each other intimately.
Chiwenga and Mnangagwa are not Mugabe and Mnangagwa.
They planned November 2017 together in the same room with one a political strategist and the other the military guarantor.
Their pact was personal before it was political and when that kind of pact frays, the fallout is never procedural. It is personal.
And like in 2016, the war veterans are again positioning themselves as the conscience, not a faction.
Is It a Repeat? No. It’s More Volatile
In 2017, the war veterans had a clear popular grievance to weaponize, the excesses of the G40 and the evident frailty of an ageing leader.
They also had the security establishment behind them, and a frustrated populace ahead of them.
Today, the war veterans defending Chiwenga do not have the centre of power and so are defending from the periphery.
The security establishment is not monolithic, the economy is more fragile, and the instrument they are challenging, a constitutional amendment through public hearings, is far more sophisticated than a simple expulsion letter from Mazowe.
Therefore this not the preamble to Operation Restore Legacy II and most definitely the tanks will not roll for a press statement.
However, it is a preamble to something ZANU PF has always struggled to contain: the moment when a succession dispute stops being about personalities and starts being framed as a struggle for the soul of the liberation movement.
In 2017, that framing worked once the war veterans convinced the rank and file that ED was the Party and the Party was ED. The rest was logistics.
Zulu’s group is attempting the same alchemy with Chiwenga but whether they have the capacity to pull it off is another question.
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