Minister exposes Mnangagwa, Chiwenga rift; VP snubs events while President avoids helicopter, endures 330kms by road amid security fears

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PUBLIC Service Minister, July Moyo yesterday made an uncanny revelation of the growing tension and mistrust between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga.

Despite being part of the programme of events, the vice president was conspicuous by his absence at the double-commissioning of Public Service Pensions Fund’s Varsity Heights and an administration block at Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) this Friday.

While delivering the vote of thanks, Moyo said Chiwenga had curiously apologised to him that he could not attend the events, but his principal, Mnangagwa, was apparently unaware of his deputy’s whereabouts.

“I spoke to VP Chiwenga earlier and he sent his apology that he could not attend, but he sent a message to congratulate you on this infrastructural development,” Moyo told delegates.

In attendance were Higher and Tertiary Education Minister, Professor Amon Murwira, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, Health Minister Douglas Mombeshora and Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Marian Chombo, deputy ministers, Mercy Maruva-Dinha and Jennifer Mhlanga and Public Service Commissions (PSC) chairman Vincent Hungwe, Zanu PF provincial chairman Mary MliswaChikoka, among other dignitaries.

To confirm the Mnangagwa camp’s paranoia over the octogenarian’s security, after the graduation ceremony, hordes of graduates and their relatives were held hostage at the venue for close to an hour to allow Mnangagwa’s to disrobe his gown before the motorcade left campus for Chinhoyi State House.Mnangagwa’s questionable travel logistics also raised eyebrows, with the 82-year-old Zanu PF leader enduring the 330-kilometre from Harare to Chinhoyi and back.

As previously reported by NewZimbabwe.com, the former army general’s faction is said to be plotting Mnangagwa and his acolytes’ removal for presiding over endemic corruption and the tanking economy, which has seen the value of the new Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency plummet against the US$. This has led to growing public anger.

Tiff within the ruling establishment was confirmed by a terse letter authored by Zanu PF national political commissar, Munyaradzi Machacha, warning party members elected to influential party organs, the District Coordinating Committees (DCCs), against fomenting divisions.

Meanwhile, Mnangagwa officiated at CUT’s 20th graduation ceremony conferring a total of 3180 diplomas and degrees broken down as follows: 41 diplomas, 2350 undergraduate degrees, 784 Masters degrees (Taught), 19 Master of Philosophy degrees, and 27 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees. Among the doctoral graduands was PSC Commissioner George Antony Chigora.

CUT vice chancellor, Professor David Simbi said the university prides itself in the provision of higher education needs that will meet skills and competences required to drive Zimbabwe’s economy to achieve a middle-income economy by 2030.

“From the onset of the Second Republic, the agenda of modernisation of Zimbabwe has remained topical. Your university of technology aptly embraced the country’s vision.

“When you laid a foundation stone at our agro-industrial park, it was an affirmation to us of your desire for a food-secure Zimbabwe, and to this end, the university’s education curriculum has been revised to meet the learning needs for programmes that impart skills and practical competences for the production of goods and services,” he said.

The 20th graduation ceremony ran under the theme “Innovating for Sustainable Growth: Towards an Industrialised Zimbabwe.”