Source: General Chiwenga fires warning shots | The Sunday Mail August 7, 2016
Mabasa Sasa and Tinashe Farawo
Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Constantino Chiwenga has warned opposition elements bent on fomenting turmoil, and Zanu-PF infiltrators seeking to destroy the party from within, that the country’s security services will not sit and watch as they plot chaos.
In an interview yesterday with The Sunday Mail ahead of the 2016 Heroes and Defence Forces holidays, Gen Chiwenga said the military had a constitutional role to preserve the integrity of the Republic and revolution.
He said: “We were reading mapepa paakatanga kuti ‘when you want to destroy Zanu-PF you need to do it from within’.
“Vaitiudza kuti kuchazoita vamwe vechidiki vanofanirwa kutonga. Hazvina kunyorwa here? Munoti tanga tisingazvioni? Hazvisizvo here zvirikuitika? Ngatidye sadza zvakanaka.”
The general also said: “Kana wada kutonga enda kuvanhu. We are a democratic country.
“We are commemorating Heroes Day; that is blood that was shed and it’s time to reflect. Ropa iroro harina kurasikira mahara. Those people died for you and me.
“Some of us survived the war not because we were the best kana kuti tanga takangwara. No. We survived so that we can bear witness to how this country was liberated …
“Many of those who did not make it to Zimbabwe were the real fighters and some of the celebrated cowards who only saw the border when going into Mozambique and coming back at Independence and never during combat, ndivo vakuzviisa pamberi manje.
“This nonsense of someone who was at a refugee camp or was a cleaner moving around telling people that he or she fought in the struggle is just that – nonsense. Wakarwa hondo kupi?
“Vanhu ngavapute mbanje dzavo zvakanaka, hazvirambidzwi. Kana ririshave rekumusha kwenyu it’s ok, putayi ikoko – don’t disturb us because we have lost thousands of innocent sons and daughters.”
On a “communique” attributed to war veterans which claimed liberation fighters had withdrawn their support for President Mugabe, Gen Chiwenga said a few rogue elements could not tarnish the broader collective.
“When a clique or infiltrators comes in, do you move around saying everyone has rebelled? War veterans start from the President himself down to the last cadre…”
He said a simple look at the leadership of the war veterans association showed none of them were members of the General Staff or High Command during the liberation struggle.
The General Staff were like the middle management, overseeing matters on the ground, and reported to the High Command.
“If we have one rogue war veteran it doesn’t mean everyone is a rogue,” he said.
On those sowing seeds of instability via social media, the ZDF Commander said it was strange that activists and church leaders now thought they were now “more revolutionary than Zanla and Zipra at the height of the liberation war”.
He said the nation should concentrate on development issues instead of brewing unnecessary chaos.
“The issue of shutting the country’s borders is nonsense, it is absolute nonsense. Vanhu ngavaende kudzimba vanodya sadza ravo vakazvigarira. Shutting the borders to please who?” he asked.
He brushed off claims that the ZDF was politically biased, saying: “We went to the struggle and brought Independence and today you cannot say I must shut my mind and completely forget where I came from.
“That’s what our Constitution says. Everyone contributed to writing the Constitution and it says we (the ZDF) shall uphold the Constitution.
“We are apolitical to the extent that we leave you to do what you like but the moment you threaten the sovereignty of the country, then you threaten that very Constitution.
“Please don’t expect us to sit and watch. We are there to protect the people and that’s what we are saying and will do.
Gen Chiwenga said an appreciation of the country’s history would aid the development agenda.
“We have our friends, the Chinese. They are where they are because of their Founding Father, Chairman Mao. Look at the Russians, even if the current leadership is not communist, they respect their Founding Father, Lenin.
“Isu muno tina VaMugabe vedu, ndoovatakabva nawo. He is the Founding Father of this country and it shall remain so.”
COMMENTS
I think Chiwenge is a very worried man! He too is seeing his world crumble beneath him. Here is a verse from the Bible for you General.
Psalm 33 : 16 – 19
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
Gen Chiwenga said the military had a constitutional role to preserve the integrity of the Republic
The republic being the mugarbage gray train, soon you will realize you too will become a statistic
Exactly! “Preserving the Republic” has nothing to do with it… their overriding mandate is to protect the Zanupf status quo.
Revolution? There was no revolution. A revolution would have brought freedom to oppressed people. There was education, now there is none worth having. There was medical care, now what is there. Jobs and ent ereprise growth, now that has fallen far negative. There was no trade deficit or international debt, now the debt is far beyond the GDP. Infrastructure, but it has gone to trash. There was law and order, now lawless chaos by those in uniform. The wealth has all gone to a few. It was no revolution, it was a bank heist, pure and simple… and the only zanupf people recently complaining are the ones who were removed from continuing to divvy up the loot. No better than the stinking, filthy Somali pirates.
Chiwenga please shut up. The constitution is for all Zimbabweans. You and your clowns violate it everyday. The reason we are tired of you all is there is nothing good or of any benefit you lot are doing for Zimbabwe. Comments like this only chase people away . WAKE UP YOU IDIOT AND GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE.
Gen Chiwenga was not part of the High Command of the Chirenga neither was he anywhere near the throne. Mugabe became a party of the high command after Sithole, Mugabe is an opportunist so is Chiwenga (Dominic) after he almost attempted suicide. Mugabe became a leader due to eloquence, he never got any training. So if Chiwenga is to be honest, on his statement of those who where cleaners and then crossed the borders and came back he must include Mugabe. He must no pretend not to know. Original members of Dare Rechimurenga, included Gen Tongo, Solomon Mujuru, kumbirai Kangai, Simon Muzenda, Mhanda Dzino Machingura among others. Mugabe joined after oust of Sithole. Then a lot of others none qualifying members joined and arrest of those original members ensued. Chiwenga should tell the people what happened to him after failing the senior officers courses and also what happened to his promotion ahead of others seniors like Sibanda, and Perence Shiri commanders.
Chiwenga is beginning to show his true colours. Cde Chiwenga, if you have nothing to say do not say nothing. Gonzo mhini gara mubako zvechidzimu zvigokuwaniremo…this time around you will not survive the suicide like you survived the last time after failing your tests at Staff College. Pliz do not be a hypocrite. The Constitution you are talking about is the fundamental law from which the Zanu PF government must derive its authority to act and manage the state (i.e. the people, borders and resources of Zimbabwe)The Constitution establishes the character of government by defining the basic principles of governance to be followed, i.e. the Fundamental Freedoms and Rights (FFR) of the people of Zimbabwe. The FFR are supposed to protect the state from government abuse. The NDF under Chiwenga deployed soldiers to beat up the people of Zimbabwe (i.e. the state) into voting a Zanu PF government which had lost to the opposition. This act of the NDF is a violation of the FFR and abuse of the state. …so what ‘protection of the Constitution do you talk about Chiwenga?’ The NDF is a hen eating its own eggs…It is raping the state i.e. the people and resources of Zimbabwe. Chiwenga is part of the devil, and what do they say ‘when you dine with the devil you must use a long spoon’. For Chiwenga to say the church people must go home and concentrate on eating sadza (when he knows the plates and silos are dry is the epitome of ignorance of what is obtaining on the ground). People are saying we are starving and Chiwenga is saying eat the empty plates…because he does not know Zimbabweans have nothing to eat. Chiwenga, material causes and emotional effects cannot be arranged in a regular equation. Fight your war clearly with Mandi Chimene about your mbanje and who was who during the war. Who are you to want to dictate Zanu PF and Mugabe on the people of Zimbabwe? Silly!
You are too emotional for nothing and you seem not to have read between the lines of Chiwenga’s message. Its because of this emotionalism that you opposition parties cannot be entrusted with the leadership of country.
Chiwenga is saying if a woman who is supposed to be cooking for her husband is letting man ( cooks ) cook for him while she is meddling in the affairs of the country whch she has not been mandated with then as the protectors of the constitution ZDF should do something to uphold it. Who is this woman. Guess for yourself.
The constitution is very clear.
He talks of war defectors and you know whom he referring to. He talks of people who were in napkins when Zimbabwe was born in 1980 who are now masquarading as war vets and you know whom he is referring to. Read his speach over and over before you react.
The ink is not even dry since Chiwenga exuded his lack of knowledge by referring to the ZDF as stockholders and the people of Zimbabwe has stakeholders. Thank to Prof Moyo for educating Cde Chiwenga that the people of Zimbabwe are the state and therefore the only stockholders in terms of Zimbabwe’s Constitution. Governments come and go (ZDF commanders come and go) but the state (i.e. the people of Zimbabwe, the resources of Zimbabwe and the borders of Zimbabwe) will remain. That’s why Zimbabwe’s Constitution recognises only the people as the only stockholders of power!
Apologies: NDF should read ZDF. E&OE
“We are there to protect the people” !!! Don’t make me laugh. If that was the case then mugabe&co would have been shot long ago.
“We have our friends, the Chinese. They are where they are because of their Founding Father, Chairman Mao. Look at the Russians, even if the current leadership is not communist, they respect their Founding Father, Lenin.”
The Chinese are where they are in large part because of Deng Xiaoping, who was purged by Mao but survived to overturn Mao’s policies. The Russians are where they are, in large part because of Mikhail Gorbachev under whom glasnost and perestroika allowed for the reformation of the Russian society and economy.
Now that we are demanding the reformation of Zimbabwe, the last thing we need is political dinosaurs hijacking and obfuscating the history of the armed struggle, so as to cling on to their privileged positions, while stubbornly arresting the nation’s growth and development.
Zimbabwe, please read RWENDO’s narration again. Understand it and acknowledge the few words but full of meaning. Mugabe, just like Mao or Lenin, will not be the messiah of Zimbabwe’s economy or future. He played his role as one among those that saw the last days of the war – and please note; he did not start the war nor was he ever the main actor during the war.
We will also hve our own Deng Xiaoping or Michael Gobachevs and Mugabe’s name will fade into the twilight just as Chinese and Russians today talk faintly about their own Maos and Gobachevs. The difference though is that in the case of Zimbabwe, the vision isn’t there and the so called Mao is busy feathering his own nest, perhaps realising that for 36years in power, he has no legacy to leave behind for his own children- worse for the country. The man has feigned highly intelligent by using dictionaries and internet searched sound bites and help from Manheru to write his speeches over the years. He has spent long hours rehearsing his reading skills…but that’s all. Speeches about things he knows ZILCH about. Look at PSYCHOMOTOR. When said he uses this groaning ascent that sounds like he is in the bathroom, “kuti zvityise” and then since 1999, the country is importing everything under the sun, the economy decimated…while he keeps talking and groaning and now even falling! He is and has been a big LIABILITY to the nation state; but a big asset to the thieves and plunderers. Yes, the Zanu PF zealots and Chinese and Russians have stolen like there is no tomorrow. The major beneficiary, as stated in the War vets communique is none other than ZIM MAO himself. That is why he can afford to leave the country, commandeer Air Zim to Singapore to see his daughter give birth while our mothers and fathers are wheel-barrowed to “drug bereft clinics and hospitals”.