Chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), Christopher Mutsvangwa, said President Emmerson Mnangagwa is perhaps Zimbabwe’s best intelligence officer and his silence doesn’t mean that he is unaware of what is taking place.
Mutsvangwa, who is a Politburo member and husband to Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, made the remarks on Wednesday at the ZANU PF Mashonaland West provincial coordinating committee (PCC) meeting held in Chinhoyi.
His statements come amid reports that some ambitious cadres within the ruling party are plotting to dethrone Mnangagwa. Said Mutsvangwa:
The president is aware of what happens on the ground, even if he keeps quiet it doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what you are doing on the ground.
He is the best intelligence officer himself, which has made Zimbabwe one of the best in the world with many countries and organisations seeking the country’s intelligence services, including the United Nations (UN).
Most intelligence assignments from the ’80s, in and outside the country, were superintended by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
To support his claims, Mutsvangwa said secret service operatives deployed from Zimbabwe were responsible for the demise of the Angolan rebel leader, Jonas Malheiro Savimbi.
Savimbi, a revolutionary politician and rebel military leader founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and was assassinated on 22 February 2002.
Mutsvangwa also said there were several Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) officers at the ZANU PF meeting who were gathering intelligence for Mnangagwa.