CHINHOYI — Vice-President General (Retired) Constantino Chiwenga has challenged ZANU PF to confront whether it is repeating the mistakes that brought down Robert Mugabe, using the party’s annual conference to press for a return to grassroots decision-making as a dispute over constitutional changes sharpens the ruling party’s succession tensions.
Speaking at the 23rd National People’s Conference in Chinhoyi on Friday, October 16, Chiwenga asked delegates whether party resolutions still reflected ordinary members’ wishes and whether ZANU PF had kept faith with the people whose support had sustained it.
His remarks carried a pointed reference to the political upheaval of November 2017, when Mugabe resigned after the military intervened and pressure mounted inside his party. Chiwenga, then commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, was central to the operation that ended Mugabe’s 37-year rule and cleared the way for Emmerson Mnangagwa to take office.
The Vice-President did not name Mnangagwa or accuse him directly of seeking to repeat Mugabe’s conduct. Instead, he framed his warning as a challenge to the whole party, telling delegates to remember why the “Second Republic” had come into being and asking whether ZANU PF was now returning to the same failures it once promised to correct.
“Chii chakaita kuti 2nd Republic ivepo? Kwaive kugadzirisa zvakaipa zvanga zvichiitika mumashure, hatisi kudzokorora here kuita zvakambotadzwa?” Chiwenga said.
He followed with a call for what he described as a “brutal and honest self-appraisal”. The questions he put to delegates went beyond the formal business of the conference, touching on who has a voice in the party and whether promises made in its name have changed people’s lives.
“This beckons us to a brutal and honest self-appraisal. We must ask ourselves the difficult questions and confront uncomfortable realities. Are our resolutions truly coming from the people? Do our conferences authentically capture the voices of the grassroots? Do we truly understand the aspirations of our people? More importantly, how should we walk our talk this time around, to serve our people better?”
The appeal came as ZANU PF prepared to debate changes to its own constitution. The party’s Central Committee placed proposals to align its internal rules with Zimbabwe’s amended national Constitution on the conference agenda. The issue has become entangled with the contest over who will lead the party after Mnangagwa and when that contest will take place.
📹 Vice President Chiwenga has used a speech at the Zanu PF conference underway in Chinhoyi to question whether the party has not slid back to the conditions that existed when Robert Mugabe was ousted in 2017. He also questioned whether resolutions really came from the people https://t.co/uBBHluIwrJ
— ZimLive (@zimlive) October 16, 2026
The timing is significant. In June, Parliament approved the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act. It was signed into law on July 7. The amendment extended the terms of the President and Parliament from five years to seven, moving the end of Mnangagwa’s current term from 2028 to 2030. It also replaced direct presidential elections with a system in which Parliament selects the next president.
The national changes have altered the political calendar that ZANU PF must now account for in its internal rules. Party proposals discussed in the lead-up to the conference have included extending the term of the party president from five years to seven and moving the next elective congress from 2027 to 2030. A party resolution on constitutional alignment was expected to be considered during the conference, with delegates due to determine the next steps.
The party’s constitutional proposals followed a fraught sequence of meetings. An extraordinary Politburo session intended to discuss the amendments was called off on October 9 after senior officials had gathered at ZANU PF headquarters in Harare. The party’s public explanation was a clash of programmes. Its spokesperson, Christopher Mutsvangwa, said: “There was a clash or an overflow of programmes, and the meeting was postponed.”
The cancellation took place days before the party’s Central Committee was due to consider the conference agenda. The issue returned at the committee’s meeting on Wednesday, October 14, where Ziyambi Ziyambi, the party’s legal affairs secretary and Justice Minister, presented the proposed alignment. The Central Committee adopted the conference agenda, including the constitutional item.
The dispute has exposed differences between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga’s camps over the process and the consequences of changing the party’s rules. Chiwenga and his allies have resisted the proposals, with objections raised over the speed of the process and the absence of a longer consultation period. The party’s secretary-general, Jacob Mudenda, has also raised concerns about provisions that could reduce his administrative powers by shifting responsibilities to a director-general.
The party has not publicly set out a final version of every proposed change. The proposals have been debated against a backdrop of competing political interests: Mnangagwa’s allies have argued for a party structure that reflects the new national framework, while Chiwenga’s supporters have opposed changes they see as delaying the party’s succession process. The conference agenda ensures the matter is before delegates, but the item’s inclusion does not itself settle its substance or implementation.
Chiwenga’s conference speech returned repeatedly to the question of whether decisions are being made for party members or for individuals. He said: “Our party belongs to the people, never to individuals. We must listen to them attentively; for they are the ones who entrusted us with this mandate. We must be willing to introspect and engage in self-criticism when confronted with divergent view-points. In the same vein, we must also handle contradictions constructively.”
He reminded delegates that ZANU PF’s strength had come from ordinary Zimbabweans, invoking the party’s liberation history and the sacrifices made by its supporters.
“The strength of ZANU PF has always emanated from the people. Our party is a people’s party, forged through the sweat, toil and blood of the masses,” he said.
Chiwenga also urged the party to judge its policies by their results. He referred to “Gutsaruzhinji”, the principle of serving the majority, and said resolutions should be assessed by whether they improve livelihoods, meet community needs and produce lasting value. The remarks linked the party’s promises under Vision 2030 to the daily experience of Zimbabweans, rather than to conference declarations alone.
“The true value of a resolution lies entirely in its substance, implementation and its tangible impact on the lives of the people we represent and serve. That is the essence of Vision 2030.”
The speech came amid several public signs of strain within the leadership. On October 10, Mnangagwa hosted a party fundraising dinner. Chiwenga and other Politburo members were absent. At the start of a Politburo meeting on Tuesday, October 13, Mnangagwa publicly rebuked those who had missed the event.
“Some of you came, some of you did not come, but you’re members of the politburo. You hear me?” Mnangagwa said, after thanking the organisers of the dinner.
The exchange preceded the conference and added to attention on the relationship between the two men who emerged as partners after Mugabe’s departure. Mnangagwa returned to ZANU PF after Mugabe dismissed him as Vice-President in November 2017.
Mnangagwa was sworn in as President on November 24, 2017. His administration described itself as the Second Republic and promised a break with the practices of Mugabe’s final years. Chiwenga’s speech recalled that founding claim at a moment when the national Constitution and ZANU PF’s internal rules are both being reshaped around a longer political timetable.
“While change is inevitable, it must be orderly, anchored in our party structures and guided by our constitution. Change must be driven by the people not imposed from above,” Chiwenga said.
He also invoked the phrase “the voice of the people is the voice of God”, telling delegates to carry that voice with them. His message returned to discipline, accountability and public service, and warned against individual ambitions taking precedence over the party’s collective purpose.
“Discipline, accountability and selfless service must define our trajectory, superceding disjointed or individualistic approaches. Mazvake mazvake haana kwaanotisvitsa. They undermine our collective purpose and cannot deliver the unity required for sustainable progress.”
The conference, running from October 15 to 17, is the latest stage in a party process that moves from local structures to provincial and national meetings. The Central Committee’s decision to put constitutional alignment on the agenda means delegates will consider the issue after weeks of dispute over how the changes were prepared and what their effect could be on the party’s leadership timetable.
Chiwenga called on delegates to remember that they were temporary custodians of the party and that younger Zimbabweans were watching their conduct. His closing appeal placed the emphasis on public service and the record the current leadership would leave behind.
“As we deliberate at this momentous conference, we must remember that we are merely temporary custodians of this vanguard Party, for our time on earth is finite, so what legacy are we leaving? We are here to serve the people, never to be served by them. The younger generation is watching our conduct with sharp attention.”