By Munacho Gwamanda – ZANU-PF Mashonaland East Provincial Chairperson Daniel Garwe has emerged visibly shaken after anti-Mnangagwa protests held on March 31 by exiled war veteran and former party insider Blessed Geza — in what insiders describe as a sign of growing panic within President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s inner circle amid signs of a mounting internal revolt led by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s loyalists.
Garwe, a vocal Mnangagwa ally and one of the chief proponents of the President’s contentious Vision 2030 agenda, took to the campaign trail in Harare this week, furiously lashing out at Geza and indirectly warning those seen as sympathisers of the rising Chiwenga faction.
Speaking during a rally to support Glen View South parliamentary candidate Tsitsi Tranquillity Tawomhera on Wednesday, Garwe said:
“President Mnangagwa won the election (in 2023). Now, in his second term, some people are already plotting, saying they can’t wait for his term to end and are calling for demonstrations to remove him. What do they mean they ‘can’t wait?’”
His remarks came just days after Geza’s March 31 protests, which, while largely symbolic, reportedly rattled Mnangagwa loyalists already on edge over growing discontent within ZANU-PF and deepening whispers of a looming palace coup.
Behind the theatrics lies a bitter and long-running power struggle between Mnangagwa and his deputy, Chiwenga. While Mnangagwa owes his presidency to the 2017 military coup that ended Robert Mugabe’s rule — an operation spearheaded by then-commander Chiwenga — the two have grown increasingly distant.
Chiwenga, who harbours his own presidential ambitions, has reportedly grown frustrated with Mnangagwa’s attempts to extend his rule beyond two terms, as well as with the sidelining of key military figures from government and party structures.
Once a low-profile war veteran, Geza is believed to be aligned with hardline elements sympathetic to Chiwenga’s faction and the former Mugabe-era camp led by exiled politician Saviour Kasukuwere.
At the rally, Garwe thanked citizens for ignoring calls to protest and threatened Geza directly:
“A stray dog always has an owner… If you want to know its master, beat the dog, and the owner will come out.”
He challenged Geza to return from exile in South Africa:
“I will make Geza wear an apology jersey for his rebellious utterances… Comrades, tell Geza the time for rebels is over.”
Though Garwe did not name Chiwenga, ZANU-PF insiders say the Mnangagwa camp is increasingly suspicious of the Vice President’s silence on internal dissent.
With war veterans like Geza openly questioning Mnangagwa’s legitimacy, and young party activists disgruntled by economic mismanagement and corruption scandals, the President’s support base is under siege — not from the opposition, but from within.