CHARAMBA’S LOYALTY CRISIS EXPOSES ZANU PF’S CRUMBLING POWER BALANCE

George Charamba is once again caught in a political storm that mirrors his past. As the official spokesperson for President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Charamba is paid by the state and expected to defend the president’s agenda at all costs. Yet, behind the scenes, his allegiance appears far murkier. It is no secret that Charamba is politically aligned with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, the man widely believed to be the real power behind Zimbabwe’s security establishment. The dilemma is personal and political and it threatens to reveal the deeper fractures at the heart of ZANU PF.

This is not the first time Charamba finds himself balancing dangerously between two warring power centers. During the final years of the Mugabe era, he played a similar double game. Then, it was Robert Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa who were pulling him in opposite directions. His balancing act earned him a public dressing down from former First Lady Grace Mugabe who saw through his pretense and exposed him for the opportunist he was. Years later, nothing has changed. Charamba is still playing messenger and mediator in a party where trust has all but evaporated.

Now the struggle is between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga. And once again Charamba is caught in the middle. His recent statement on X, formerly Twitter, was laced with frustration and sarcasm. He dismissed those who believe there is a wedge between the president and his deputy, calling it a foolish story. Yet the details he posted told a very different story. The president, in what appeared to be an unusual display, turned to Chiwenga’s wife during a party conference to help pronounce a Ndebele word, bypassing more senior party members. Delegates were visibly stunned. Later, Mnangagwa handed over the day’s proceedings to Chiwenga in front of everyone. This public gesture was clearly meant to send a signal of unity but ended up raising more questions than it answered.

Observers noted that both leaders gave speeches with eerily similar metaphors and language, especially when discussing corruption. They hammered home the same message, echoing each other’s condemnation of corrupt tendencies within the party. On the surface, this looked like unity. But many believe it was a performance designed to silence critics and avoid addressing the deeper issue, a looming succession war that neither man wants to confront publicly.

Charamba tried to sell this moment as one of clarity and shared vision, pointing to their praise of Vision 2030 and their supposed commitment to people-centered development. But no one is fooled. His insistence that the party is united is undermined by the very tone and length of his post. He was not merely commenting. He was pleading. He was warning. He was panicking.

ZANU PF has always struggled with succession. It is a party built on paranoia and power hoarding. No one grooms a successor without fearing that successor will rise too soon. Mnangagwa’s health and age are no secret. Chiwenga has waited in the wings long enough and has his own ambitions. Charamba’s dilemma is the party’s dilemma. He cannot speak freely without risking his position, yet his attempts to appear neutral are exposing just how shaky the ground beneath him truly is.

What Charamba says in jest should not be dismissed. The laughter masks anxiety. The dissertation he wishes to write would likely tell the truth ZANU PF fears most that the party is not united, that the power struggle is real, and that the coming years will be defined not by Vision 2030 but by betrayal, backroom deals and the eventual implosion of a political machine that has run out of lies.