Walter Mzembi, Zimbabwe’s former Tourism minister, has opined that Chris Mutsvangwa was fired as Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs because he is ungovernable and does not respect the authority of others. The Deputy Chief Secretary of Presidential Communications in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba announced Mutsvangwa’s removal from office on Saturday 3 January 2024 but did not give reasons for the dismissal. In his response to Mutsvangwa’s dismissal, Mzembi said:
So many theories are being thrown around as to what may have led to Cde Chris Mutsvangwa’s abrupt dismissal by @edmnangagwa President Mnangagwa. I proffer my own based on what led to his dismissal by Mugabe in 2016.
It’s simply that Chris is ungovernable and does not submit to the authority of anyone let alone the collectivity of Cabinet and the President. He is an all knowing man of many words who does not know when to mute himself.
On several occasions inside Cabinet in 2016, he would take on Mugabe to an embarrassing point where @edmnangagwa himself then Vice President would be the only one able to silence him with the strongest rebuke and I quote his below;
“Chris, Chris I said shut up, shut up Chris, I am your Commander Chris I order you to shut up!”
At this point Chris would pack his Cabinet file and leave in a huff!
Mugabe believed in the superiority of ideas and would allow exhaustive debate on any item, but our brother Chris knowing it all, would roughshod over everyone at which point Mugabe would come in to exercise his authority as Chairman to restore order & decorum and the Minister of War Veterans would refuse to recognise that authority. Disagreements were mainly around the agency he seemed to carry over Chinese Investments which would often blind his judgement. Our Cabinet team had strong characters who could withstand and fight back, I wonder though whether the current pedigree of Ministers can withstand his bullish behaviour without seeking the protection of Mnangagwa, which may be the case here. Mnangagwa himself left him out of his Cabinet line up in 2018 because he was minding this disharmony he would bring in his new team. He instead appointed him Special Advisor but even this would not cut. It was a gamble from the very beginning bringing him back into Cabinet.
Exploiting his parallel authority of @ZANUPF_Official Party Spokesman his last Press Conference last week was an intrusion into other Ministerial mandates and may have actually became his proverbial Waterloo. Going further to declare his ambition in his soliloquy he sealed his fate on that day!
With his highly opinionated acerbic style of delivery clearly misrepresenting the collective he has been responsible for even how some of us have not found each other with our former Party.
No wonder across the board his dismissal has been popularly received and secretly celebrated inside Zanu PF ranks and Government. I hope at personal level he has time for reflection on many things before his next move. He still is Party Spokesman @ZANUPF_Official and may keep it but clearly many are watching whether he will continue weaponising it against perceived and imagined enemies.
Mzembi said that supporters of Mutsvangwa are spreading a story that he was fired because he resisted President Mnangagwa’s plan for a third term. However, Mzembi questions where, when, and how Mutsvangwa has been active in opposing this agenda. Mzembi believes it will be difficult to deceive the public and gain support for or against any ZANU-PF party. Some people think that despite his loyalty to Mnangagwa, Mutsvangwa has been too ambitious and has been aspiring to become the Vice President.
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