President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s close ally and Gokwe-Nembudziya legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena has vouched for Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, saying the former army general, who toppled former President Robert Mugabe in a coup in November 2017, had no plans to stage another military takeover.
BY MOSES MATENGA
Addressing members of his constituency at the weekend, Wadyajena dismissed speculative reports that a coup was looming following Chiwenga’s return from a four-month long medical trip in China.
The speculation was further fuelled by the absence of senior government officials to welcome Chiwenga at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on November 23 and at his home-coming prayer meeting in Wedza at the weekend.
“There were celebrations in the opposition that VP Chiwenga is back and ED is going. They said there is going to be a coup. Nothing like that will ever happen. The President and his deputy are brothers and it is President Mnangagwa who spoke to his Chinese counterpart (Xi Jinping) to have his deputy flown to China for treatment because they say he was poisoned,” Wadyajena said.
Chiwenga’s detractors claimed the ex-army general was angry over recent purges on his loyalists in the party and military.
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Wadyajena said the narrative was being peddled by remnants of the G40 cabal to fan factionalism in the party.
“We hear you got calls from some ministers saying you must not bring the presidential inputs here. Whoever is calling you is working against the President. That’s why youths say they are people targeting ED and Nicodemously, saying he must go and leave for a younger person. Leave to go where? The Constitution says he must serve for two terms,” he said.
“Let us support the President and not work against him and sabotage him. Elections are in 2023, (so) let us not be in campaign mode.”
Cotton Producers and Marketers Association chairperson Steward Mubonderi said Mnangagwa had taken the Cuban and Rwandan strategy to bust sanctions through boosting local crop production.
“Today, Iraq and Libya are crying, they lacked vision and supported the killing of Sadam Hussein and Libyan leader Muammar Gadafi. They are now feeling the heat. It is disastrous to think of removing a leader now when we are under sanctions,” he said.
“What is killing us is lack of production. We don’t remove sanctions by marching, we need production. We do not forsake our father because of hunger,” Mubonderi said.