THE FRENEMIES: CHIWENGA’S LOYALTY REPAID WITH BETRAYAL BY MNANGAGWA

He stood with him when no one else did—when Robert Mugabe fired him as Vice-President on 6 November 2017, and he fled to South Africa, his political future hanging by a thread. Just two weeks later, Constantino Chiwenga took the ultimate risk: leading a military coup that ended Mugabe’s 37-year rule and put Emmerson Mnangagwa on the path to power. He did the groundwork that made Mnangagwa’s return possible. The warm welcome Mnangagwa received in Harare and his rise to the presidency would not have happened without Chiwenga.

After the coup, Chiwenga backed Mnangagwa all the way. He helped him consolidate power and weather the storm of two disputed elections—in 2018 and again in 2023. He stood by his policies without question, championing Vision2030 and publicly likening Mnangagwa to the great Shona kings by calling him “Munhumutapa.” Chiwenga even knelt before Mnangagwa at the 2022 ZANU PF congress, in a public display of loyalty. He did all this despite once surviving poisoning and enduring health scares—yet remained loyal.

But that loyalty now lies shattered.

Mnangagwa’s plan to cling to power beyond 2028, effectively seeking a third term, has drawn a clear line in the sand between the two men. Chiwenga, who was once expected to take over in 2023, feels betrayed. He believes it’s time for him to lead, but Mnangagwa sees things differently. For Mnangagwa, Chiwenga is no longer the ally he once trusted—he’s now a threat.

The irony is that Mnangagwa’s rise would have been impossible without Chiwenga and the army. But like many leaders who come to power through coups, Mnangagwa has started to purge those who helped him. It’s a classic pattern: eliminate the kingmakers to secure your throne. History has seen it before—Napoleon, Stalin, Idi Amin, Mobutu, even Mugabe. Once power is secured, loyalty becomes expendable.

In Zimbabwe, this pattern is playing out again. Chiwenga’s allies are slowly being pushed out. Just last week, Zimbabwe National Army commander Lieutenant-General Anselem Sanyatwe—former Presidential Guard head and key player in the 2017 coup—was removed. The timing, ahead of the March 31 stayaway, suggests Mnangagwa is cleaning house.

While Mnangagwa did defend Chiwenga in the past—especially when Mugabe tried to fire him from the Defence Forces—those gestures seem long forgotten. Though Mnangagwa allowed Chiwenga to hold powerful positions early on, including Vice-President and Defence Minister, it was only because he had no choice. He needed Chiwenga then. Now, he doesn’t.

And now, as Mnangagwa positions his proxies to block Chiwenga’s rise, the succession fight has fully exploded into the open. Behind the scenes, the battle is ruthless. Chiwenga gave everything—his loyalty, his reputation, even his health—to help Mnangagwa rise. But now he is seen as just another obstacle in Mnangagwa’s path to absolute power.

Mugabe once warned Chiwenga about trusting Mnangagwa. That warning is echoing louder than ever.

The Mnangagwa-Chiwenga relationship, once built on trust and shared ambition, has now turned into a cold war of betrayal and survival. What began as a partnership forged in the fire of political upheaval has turned into a brutal power struggle that could shape Zimbabwe’s future.

As the battle for 2030 unfolds, one thing is certain: in Zimbabwean politics, loyalty means nothing when power is at stake.