A long convoy of armoured personnel tanks rolling through a Harare neighbourhood sparked concerns – for a brief moment – that a military coup was afoot in Zimbabwe.
“What’s going on in Zimbabwe?” one person posted on social media. Another said: “The last time this happened there was a coup.”
Government spokesman Mangwana was quick to allay the public’s fears, explaining the tanks were in the capital that mid-February morning as part of a scheduled exercise to test equipment and were “nothing to be concerned about”.
Yet the chatter and speculation continued, revealing much about the state of the country
Ahead of the routine military drill, President Emmerson Mnangagwa had, for the first time since becoming president in 2017, faced harsh criticism about his leadership from within his Zanu-PF party with calls for him to step down.
The accusations evoked memories of the lead-up to the coup that toppled his predecessor, long-time leader Robert Mugabe.
He had come to power in 1980 as the revolutionary hero who ended decades of white-minority rule. But his demise was heralded when veterans of the 1970s war of independence withdrew their support for him.
It was a war veteran and senior Zanu-PF member named Blessed Geza, also known as “Bombshell”, who launched a verbal offensive against Mnangagwa.
He became angered when some within the party began pushing to change the country’s laws to allow for the president to seek a third term.
In a series of often expletive-laden press conferences, gritty-voiced and with a furrowed forehead, he repeatedly called on the 82-year-old president to go or face being removed.
“I must apologise for helping him come into office,” said Geza in one press conference aired on social media about the president, who goes by the nickname “The Crocodile”.
“As soon as he had the taste of power, he escalated corruption, forgot the people and only remembered his family,” said the outspoken war veteran, who was then a member of Zanu-PF’s powerful central committee.
“Mnangagwa has also surrendered state power to his wife and children. We sadly see history repeating itself. We can’t allow that to happen.”
Zanu-PF was outraged by his “disloyal” remarks – later described as “amounting to treason” – forcing Bombshell into hiding from where, through his representatives, he continues to make taunts via social media, hinting at protests.
He is wanted by the police on four charges, including vehicle theft, undermining the authority of the president and inciting public violence.
Blessed Mhlanga, the journalist who first interviewed Bombshell back in November, has also been arrested on charges of transmitting a message that incites violence.
Trouble began brewing over Mnangagwa’s ambitions to stay in office during Zanu-PF rallies last year. The president is currently serving his second and final term, which expires in 2028.
The slogan “2030 he will still be the leader” began to be uttered by his supporters despite Zimbabwe’s constitution limiting presidential terms to two five-year terms.
They argued that he would need to remain in office to complete his “Agenda 2030” development programme as he was doing such great work.
A motion was then adopted unanimously at Zanu-PF’s conference in December that did not explicitly speak of a third term but sought to extend Mnangagwa’s existing term until 2030.
Despite a recent assurance from Mnangagwa that he did intend to step down in three years, the influential Roman Catholic bishops have become involved.
In a pastoral letter last week, Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops Conference warned that the 2030 debate was a distraction from the things that truly mattered – business closures, high unemployment, rampant corruption and economic policies that favour the wealthy at the expense of ordinary Zimbabweans.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba expressed his disappointment about the clerics’ pronouncement, telling the state-run Herald newspaper the matter was now “dead and buried”.
Source: BBC News
