HARARE – Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has been directed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to prepare a charge sheet against Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, accusing him of inciting tensions and plotting a potential coup within ZANU PF.
The development follows the leaking of a seven-page document authored by Chiwenga and presented to the ZANU PF Presidium and Politburo on 17 September 2025, in which he fiercely criticised Mnangagwa’s alleged bid to extend his presidency beyond the 2028 constitutional limit and accused powerful business allies of “industrial-scale corruption.”
At the ongoing ZANU PF Annual Conference in Mutare, Ziyambi — speaking in his capacity as the party’s Secretary for Legal Affairs — delivered a 25-page scathing response on behalf of the President, describing Chiwenga’s document as “inciteful,” “treasonous,” and “an attempt to subvert a constitutionally elected government.”
“Any attempt to destabilise or subvert a constitutionally elected Government is treasonous,” Ziyambi wrote. “The document advocates for the unlawful removal of a constitutionally elected President, which is palpably treasonous.”
Ziyambi said Mnangagwa had tasked him to examine the Vice President’s allegations against the backdrop of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the ZANU PF Party Constitution, and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, concluding that Chiwenga’s presentation was “politically reckless” and “legally indefensible.”
The Justice Minister accused Chiwenga of “bitterness and disrespect” toward the President, alleging that his document was an “inciteful attempt to resurrect the November 2017 template” that led to the ouster of the late President Robert Mugabe.
“This strong appetite to bring us back to November 2017 should be nipped in the bud, and any such ambitions should be crushed,” Ziyambi warned.
He further stated that Chiwenga’s dossier constituted “a personal attack on the President” and amounted to “undermining the Office and authority of the Head of State,” adding that such behaviour posed “a serious threat to peace, unity and national security.”
Ziyambi dismissed Chiwenga’s corruption allegations against businessmen Kudakwashe Tagwirei, Wicknell Chivhayo, Scott Sakupwanya, and Delish Nguwaya as “defamatory and baseless fabrications,” asserting that the individuals named were long-time supporters of the ruling party and that their transactions had “full Cabinet approval.”
He described Chiwenga’s claims as an “attempt to distort the historical narrative for personal and political gain,” concluding that the Vice President’s conduct “undermines the sovereignty and constitutional order of the Republic.”
Sources within the party said Mnangagwa has since instructed Ziyambi to compile a formal charge sheet against Chiwenga for “incitement to destabilise a constitutionally elected government”, a move that could see the deepening of the factional rift between the two liberation war comrades.
The explosive exchange comes amid heightened succession tensions in ZANU PF, with the Mutare Conference now overshadowed by the fierce contest between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga — a rivalry that has thrown the ruling party’s internal unity into disarray.
Political analysts say the fallout signals the most serious rupture within ZANU PF’s top ranks since the 2017 coup that brought Mnangagwa to power, raising fears of renewed instability at the highest levels of government.
