ZimEye

Here is what those who support Chiwenga must realise. His whole history, together with ED, has been about thwarting democratic transition in Zimbabwe. He consistently abused his power while at the helm of the Army to meddle in political affairs, propping up Robert Mugabe's despicable regime & targeting & decimating members of the opposition, with their sole crime being to oppose ZANU PF & Robert Mugabe! Even November 2017 was about that. He was preserving power for himself in a pre-arranged (is it pre-paid) relay power deal with ED which has gone sour. If he takes over, he will "rule" with a heavy military, hard core, ruthless & reform averse system together with his party, ZANU PF. This is a deeply entrenched military-party authoritarian hybrid system that has operated in Zimbabwe since independence. It has proven adept at simply replacing individuals without tinkering with the system, which has been regularly perfected to retain power. I say this so that you can be under no illusions about what you are supporting. The whole system has to go & the only solution is comprehensive reforms followed by free & fair elections. Modern states choose their leaders through regular free & fair elections, not coups, with independent state institutions respecting the Constitution. Just like ED in November 2017, Chiwenga is currently conducting a sustained campaign of "image washing" pivoted towards those who are gullible, selling a pipe dream in the form of proposals to reform the system. In reality, no reforms will come. If Chiwenga comes in & fails to turn around the economy & the citizens become restless, you could see April - June 2008 again, something the whole world was reminded about on 1 August 2018, nearly 10 years later. If he has walked lock-in-step with ED for over 40 years, it means current fissure can only be due to a personal battle over power! ED's record is extensive. There is nothing that he is doing now that he wasn't doing with Chiwenga by his side over the past 40 years! Chiwenga was comfortable with that behaviour & still is. He is selling a pie in the sky by pretending to be different & opposed to ED because he knows that, that's the best path towards gaining power. Just like ED before him, who had to publicly & repeatedly disown & discredit his own long time mentor Robert Mugabe to gain power, Chiwenga is following the same script!