Chiwenga emotionally prepares himself for battle

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Vice, President Constantino Chiwenga emotionally returned to his childhood school on Saturday, a place rich in history for his personal journey and Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.

The visit to Mount St Mary’s Mission School in Hwedza, where he and his late coup ally, Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri, once studied, came against the backdrop of intensifying political tensions between Chiwenga and President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Chiwenga attended a Thanksgiving Mass in honour of Father Cellestino Magwenzi, a former student of the mission school, who was celebrating his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest.

For the Vice President, however, the occasion was more than a religious gathering—it was a symbolic homecoming to the site where he and his comrades made the fateful decision to abandon their studies and join the liberation war.

In 1973, during a tea break, Chiwenga and three of his Form Three classmates—Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri, Brigadier-General (Retired) Richard Huchu, and Ernest Mandizvidza—chose to leave school and take up arms in the fight for Zimbabwe’s independence.

Their decision was fraught with danger, but it ultimately shaped the country’s political and military landscape.

While Chiwenga, Shiri, and Huchu survived the war and later occupied high-ranking positions in government and the military, Mandizvidza is believed to have perished in the struggle.

The nostalgia of the visit, however, was overshadowed by the deepening rift between Chiwenga and Mnangagwa.

The two had been allies in the 2017 military coup that toppled Robert Mugabe, with Chiwenga playing a decisive role in installing Mnangagwa as President.

In the aftermath of the coup, a gentleman’s agreement was reportedly struck: Mnangagwa would serve two terms and then hand over power to Chiwenga.

However, Mnangagwa has since moved to consolidate his grip on power and is now manoeuvring to extend his rule beyond his constitutional limits.

As tensions rise, Chiwenga has found himself increasingly isolated.

A series of unexplained deaths among his key allies has fueled speculation about internal purges.

Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri, a close confidant of Chiwenga and the former Minister of Agriculture, died in 2020 under circumstances shrouded in mystery, officially attributed to COVID-19.

However, insiders suggest foul play, given Shiri’s influential position and proximity to Chiwenga.

Other figures in Chiwenga’s camp, including high-ranking military officials, have also faced sudden and unexplained deaths or political sidelining.

With Mnangagwa tightening his grip on power through security agencies and a network of loyalists in the ruling Zanu PF party, Chiwenga is under mounting pressure. This is an Ignite Media Zimbabwe news production. His visit to Mount St Mary’s Mission School, therefore, takes on a symbolic significance—it is not just a personal reflection on the past but also a rekindling of the fighting spirit that once propelled him into the liberation struggle.

Whether he can muster enough political and military leverage to challenge Mnangagwa remains to be seen, but the battle lines within Zimbabwe’s power corridors are clearly drawn.