President Emmerson Mnangagwa has described his deputy Constantino Chiwenga as a man of integrity who has executed all national assignments he has been tasked with.
Chiwenga wedded Colonel Miniyothabo Chiwenga at a high-profile ceremony presided over by the Roman Catholic Church at St Gerard’s Catholic Church on Saturday in Borrowdale, Harare. Said Mnangagwa:
I am extremely proud of my younger brother Dominic Chiwenga. We have worked together with Dominic for about 46 years since the war of liberation.
He was one of our commanders, becoming a member of the (ZANLA) High Command. Thereafter when we became independent, he remained in the armed forces of the new Republic of Zimbabwe and he discharged all the assignments given by the First Republic as well as currently under the Second Republic.
I congratulate him. He is a man of integrity. He is a man who does not take no for an answer he interrogates every aspect of an issue.
I am sure everybody knows that it is not easy to rise to that level if you are not of high intellect.
Dominic has walked a very hard journey from the time of our armed struggle…
Each time I see him, I see the other commanders that have left us and he is still a symbol of that armed struggle which we waged.
I think the Lord above has kept him all this way for a reason and today we are all assembled to celebrate his wedding.
As we go away, we are satisfied that we leave a man of integrity, a man who has seen it all, to continue walking the correct line of the revolution, to continue leading this country to prosperity, and to continue to maintain unity in the nation.
Mnangagwa also spoke glowingly about Colonel Miniyothabo, saying she too was a woman of integrity. He said:
Fortunately, vaChiwenga, your dear wife is also a soldier. She has seen it all. She rose through the ranks in the military.
I do not know now, but when I was Minister of Defence she rose to the rank of colonel.
don’t know whether she went beyond after I left. Which shows character and integrity. In that field, those are requirements for leadership and the two earned them and today we have General Chiwenga as Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
As they were being joined in church, I almost shed tears, when memories of the past when the memories of the past when were in the struggle in the bush.
I for one know too much about the two people. The two have travelled a long journey together.
I am exceedingly happy that it has come to this conclusion. God bless you, Chiwenga and Mrs Chiwenga.
Both the two, the husband and the wife when I was Minister of Defence, I found confidence in them, in spite that they were working differently but both were upright officers under me.
The wedding was also attended by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa and family, former First Lady Grace Mugabe, VP Kembo Mohadi, former VP Phelekezela Mphoko and wife, cabinet ministers, businessman Kuda Tagwirei, controversial socialite and businessman Wicknell Chivhayo, among others.
According to ZimLive, army generals from South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Namibia formed Chiwenga’s bridal team.
The NewsHawks reported that a Namibian retired military commander, Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, was Chiwenga’s best man.
Ndaitwah (71) is a Namibian diplomat and former military commander. His wife, Nandi-Ndaitwah Netumbo, is likely to be the next Namibian President.
She is Namibia’s Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of International Relations And Cooperation and the current SWAPO (Namibia’s ruling party) vice president.
More: Pindula News