DID MNANGAGWA BETRAY CHIWENGA OR DID CHIWENGA MISREAD THE GAME
The story of Zimbabwe after 2017 is always told like a simple story of betrayal. People say the soldier helped remove the old leader, and the politician he helped is the one who later pushed him aside. It sounds like a clean story that fits in a movie, but the truth is not that simple. This question about whether Emmerson Mnangagwa betrayed Constantino Chiwenga or whether Chiwenga failed to understand the real game opens a bigger discussion about how power works in Zimbabwe, how leaders think, and how our political system forces people to act in certain ways. This is not only a story about two men. It is a story about a system that rewards control, punishes loyalty, and makes power feel like something that cannot be shared.
The partnership between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga was never built on shared beliefs. It was something created because both men needed each other at a time of crisis. By late 2017, the fight between the G40 group and the Lacoste group had reached a point where something had to give. When Mnangagwa was removed from the vice presidency, the military felt pushed into a corner. Chiwenga, who was the commander of the defence forces, said the army was stepping in to protect the liberation legacy. Mnangagwa said he would be the safe political leader who could hold the party together and bring stability.
The plan worked because both men brought something the other did not have. Chiwenga brought the power of the army and discipline. Mnangagwa brought the political front and the legal path that made the transition look official. When Mugabe resigned and Mnangagwa became president, many soldiers believed this was not a permanent arrangement. Some even thought Mnangagwa would later hand over power to Chiwenga once things were stable. At first it looked like this idea was true. Chiwenga became vice president, and many senior military officers were given strong posts in government. It looked like the unity of 2017 was real.
But things started to change in late 2018. Mnangagwa slowly started moving military officers out of important positions. Some were sent into retirement, others became diplomats, and some were kept under tight watch. The intelligence system was rebuilt so that its loyalty moved closer to Mnangagwa. Even the ruling party structures were changed so that power moved away from military influence and towards Mnangagwa’s own loyal networks.
The economic problems of 2018 and 2019 made this shift even faster. The government needed civilian business people to help fix the economy, so the military power that looked so strong in 2017 started to look less important. By 2020, Chiwenga had less control than he expected. His long illness took him away from the centre of political action, and while he was away, Mnangagwa strengthened his power even more. People close to him rose into higher positions. Security systems began to protect him more directly. Some people linked to the military were arrested, showing clearly who now held the real power.
By 2022, the agreement that had held them together in 2017 was gone. Chiwenga was still vice president, but he no longer had strong influence. Mnangagwa started his second term with more control over the state, over the party, and over the people who would decide the future leadership. The soldier who had once shaped the political change now had to live inside a system where Mnangagwa had full control of force, information, and rewards. What began as a shared mission slowly turned into a quiet and unbalanced fight for power.
