Harare, Zimbabwe — A group of Zimbabwe’s liberation war veterans has called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to step down. The veterans, affiliated with the ruling Zanu-PF Party, accuse the president of nepotism, corruption and failing to address the moribund economy. Zanu-PF Party leaders say they are not taking the calls seriously.
At a press conference streamed online, Blessed Runesu Geza, a veteran of Zimbabwe’s 1960s and ’70s liberation war and a member of Zanu-PF's central committee, called for the president to step down immediately.
He accused Mnangagwa of failing to live up to the promises he made in 2017 when he came to power with the army's help.
Geza said many of those who died fighting for the country’s liberation do not have decent graves and that the country is being turned into “a banana republic.” He also spoke of looting and the struggles of people in the country.
“We are saying — as war veterans — enough is enough. You have shown that you have failed. It can’t get any worse,” he said in Shona at the press conference.
“Corruption has become a security threat because these people are being protected by Emmerson. So, as war veterans, including masses, we are being asked, ‘Why did you give us this kind of a person? We no longer like him.’ So, we are pleading with you: Leave peacefully. If you don’t, people will use the constitution for you to go.”
In an interview with VOA, Zanu-PF spokesman Farai Marapira dismissed the calls for Mnangagwa to step down.
“The party position is clear; the party position is given to clear channels. So, we cannot dignify rogue rantings by responding to them,” Marapira said. “People who speak their mind outside of the party, that's part of democracy. But the position is clear: We had a conference, and that is what we will deal with, and that is what we work with, and anything else is just ranting.”
At a recent Zanu-PF conference, party leaders passed a resolution that Mnangagwa should seek a third term in 2028, assuming the party can force through amendments to the constitution.
In an interview with VOA, Eldred Masunungure, a political professor at the University of Zimbabwe, said the war veterans are feeling genuine frustration, as things have not worked out the way they expected after Mnangagwa toppled Robert Mugabe in November 2017.
“The political clouds are extremely difficult to read under the circumstances, but what is clear [is] they expressed in unambiguous terms their exasperation with the way things have been going on in the last couple of years in the second republic,” Masunungure said. “That is certain. But the outcome of what they are doing, what they are advocating for, that is — in my view — deeply uncertain.”
The second republic refers to Mnangagwa’s presidency after Mugabe’s 37 years in power.
Brighton Chipamhadze, a Harare-based independent political commentator, said Geza’s announcement shows the divisions within the ruling party.
“As Comrade Geza points out, there are certain individuals benefiting from Mnangagwa’s rule, calling for [an] extension of Mnangagwa’s term,” Chipamhadze said. “Yet there is also a section of the ruling party which is against Mnangagwa extending his term of office.”
Zimbabwe’s constitution, adopted in 2013, allows parliament to impeach and remove the president if lawmakers feel he is incapacitated.
Mnangagwa is one of Africa’s oldest heads of state. In 2028, he will be 86 years old.
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