HARARE – A bombshell has rocked Zimbabwe’s political scene as a ZANU-PF insider spills explosive details behind the bitter rift between party spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
A source within senior Zanu PF leaders last night revealed that Mutsvangwa harbours a decades-old grudge, suspecting that Vice President Chiwenga had an affair with his wife, Monica, during their time in a ZANLA refugee camp in Mozambique during the liberation struggle. The revelation paints a dramatic picture of the late 1970s, where Monica Mutsvangwa, then a young freedom fighter, allegedly faced coercion in the chaotic camps.
The insider alleges, “Chris Mutsvangwa believes Chiwenga, with his commanding presence during the liberation war struggle, took advantage of Monica under the cover of war. She was one of the many vulnerable girls pressured into such situations.”
This suspicion mirrors Mutsvangwa’s past distrust of Didymus Mutasa, another ZANU PF senior figure he once suspected of similar behaviour.
The source adds that Mutsvangwa is aware of several party heavyweights he believes were involved with his wife during those turbulent times. Historical accounts of ZANLA camps reveal a darker side, where female fighters—often young and impressionable—were subjected to abuse, including coercion and beatings by male commanders.
Monica, a survivor of those conditions, has remained a prominent figure, but the past now threatens to unravel family and political ties. Mutsvangwa’s public attacks on Chiwenga, including branding him a “cruel, illiterate electoral liability” in leaked recordings, are said to stem from this personal betrayal.
The feud has intensified amid ZANU-PF’s internal power struggles. Mutsvangwa recently accused Chiwenga of wielding a “forged dossier” to target President Mnangagwa’s allies, calling it a “kangaroo court” move.
The arrest of Mutsvangwa’s son in 2024 on forex charges, blamed on Chiwenga, has only deepened the animosity. As the party’s Mutare conference approaches, the tension could fracture the fragile ED2030 alliance.
Chiwenga, who orchestrated Mugabe’s 2017 ouster, has stayed silent, but allies hint at a brewing counterattack. Monica, a resilient minister and farmer, remains defiant amid the storm. With old wounds reopening, Zimbabwe watches as this personal saga threatens to reshape ZANU PF’s future.
