GUNS, MONEY AND THE FIGHT TO CONTROL ZIMBABWE

I write this as a political activist who is tired of Zanu PF rule. Our country is now a broken place. People are poor. Jobs are few. Prices are high. Many people have left the country. All this is because of greedy leaders who think only about power and money.

Today there is a new fight inside Zanu PF. It is a fight about who will take over after President Emmerson Mnangagwa. This fight is not open, but it is real. On one side we see the gun. On the other side we see money. The gun is Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and his friends in the army. The money is businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei and his network around Mnangagwa.

For more than twenty years Zimbabwe has been in trouble because of bad leadership. First it was Robert Mugabe. Now it is Mnangagwa. They both used fear, soldiers and police to stay in power. They also used money and state resources to buy loyalty. The result is clear. Our country is now one of the worst examples of failed leadership in Africa. We used to be a breadbasket. Now we are known for poverty and corruption.

This story of guns and money did not start today. Long back, during the liberation struggle, there was another big power fight. Zanu broke away from Zapu, which was led by Joshua Nkomo in Lusaka. Inside Zanu there was a clash between founding leader Ndabaningi Sithole and Robert Mugabe. Young fighters in a camp in Mgagao in Tanzania wrote what is now called the Mgagao Declaration in 1975. In that document they turned against Sithole and backed Mugabe. Later, at the Chimoio Congress in Mozambique, Mugabe was made leader of Zanu. From that time, the gun decided who led the party.

Chiwenga was part of that story. As a young fighter he played a role at Mgagao. Many years later, in November 2017, he again used the gun to decide who rules. He led the army that removed Mugabe after 37 years in power and helped Mnangagwa take over. The world was told it was a “military assisted transition”, but we know it was a coup.

Now Chiwenga faces the same test again. He helped Mnangagwa rise, but he also wants power for himself. To do that he must first remove Mnangagwa. This time things are harder. The context has changed. People are more angry. The economy is worse. The region is watching. And inside Zanu PF there is now a strong money camp.

Tagwirei stands for this money camp. He is a rich businessman, almost one billion US dollars. He is a close friend and ally of Mnangagwa. He sat in the Presidential Advisory Council. He now sits in the Zanu PF Central Committee. He also chairs a government body on land tenure. He mixes business, government and party work. That makes him powerful.

So we now see two centres of power in Zanu PF. Chiwenga, the retired general, has the gun and deep links to the army. Tagwirei, the tycoon, has the money and deep links to Mnangagwa. Between them stands the future of our country.

For us as citizens, this is a warning. Our lives are used as chips in a power game. Guns and money are fighting over who controls State House, but no one is fighting for hospitals, jobs, and clean water. Zimbabweans are tired of being passengers while a small elite plays with our future. It is time we say clearly that this country does not belong to Zanu PF guns or Zanu PF money. It belongs to the people.