Harare, Zimbabwe — Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has delivered what political analysts describe as a stark warning to internal rivals within the ruling ZANU-PF party, using the nation’s liberation war legacy to assert the party’s unchallengeable authority. In a speech that has rapidly circulated across social media, Chiwenga reportedly declared that those who ‘forget the sacrifices of the liberation struggle’ risk being cast aside by the very movement that delivered independence in 1980.
The address, captured in a widely shared video, comes at a moment of acute political tension inside ZANU-PF. Chiwenga—a former army general who led the 2017 coup that ousted Robert Mugabe—has long been viewed as a rival to President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The two men are locked in a quiet but intense succession battle, with Mnangagwa’s allies pushing for a third term despite constitutional term limits, and Chiwenga’s faction seeking to secure his ascent after the 2028 elections.
‘This is not a nostalgic history lesson. It is a power play,’ said Rejoice Ngwenya, a political analyst at the University of Zimbabwe. ‘Chiwenga is reminding everyone—including Mnangagwa’s inner circle—that the liberation credentials of the party belong to the military wing, not the civilian politicians. He is drawing a red line.’
The liberation war legacy has been a central pillar of ZANU-PF’s legitimacy for four decades. But as the generation of actual combatants ages and the country faces a catastrophic economic crisis—with inflation exceeding 175 percent, an unemployment rate above 80 percent, and a 3.5 percent contraction in GDP last year—the appeal of these old narratives has worn thin for millions of Zimbabweans. Chiwenga’s speech appears designed to reconnect the party’s base to the foundational myth, while simultaneously marginalizing younger, reform-minded figures within the party who advocate for a more technocratic approach.
The Liberation War Legacy as a Political Weapon
In the video, Chiwenga is heard speaking in Shona and English, repeatedly using the phrase ‘inzwai zvotaurwa’—‘hear what is being said’—as a commanding rhetorical device. He reportedly warned that ZANU-PF would not tolerate ‘betrayal from within’ and that the party’s ‘liberation charter’ remains the sole guiding document for Zimbabwe’s future. The speech echoes earlier statements by Chiwenga in which he has openly criticized party officials who ‘abandon revolutionary values’ and engage in corruption.
‘The liberation war is not a museum piece,’ Chiwenga is purported to have said. ‘It is a living contract between those who fought and those who enjoy the fruits of freedom.’ The message was met with cheers from an audience of war veterans and party loyalists, a constituency that Chiwenga has carefully cultivated since leaving the military. His ties to the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association are a powerful source of political leverage, giving him a direct channel to grassroots activists who can mobilize support—or dissent.
