By A Correspondent
Outspoken Zimbabwean preacher Talent Chiwenga has stirred controversy once again, this time with explosive claims about ethnic dynamics in Zimbabwe’s politics.
In a recent sermon, Chiwenga accused the ruling ZANU PF party of marginalizing the Ndebele people since independence and described the Shona ethnic group as “cowards,” igniting a wave of public backlash.
Chiwenga claimed that ZANU PF deliberately sidelined the Ndebeles from key positions in government in order to consolidate political power.
“If the population dynamics in Zimbabwe were such that the Ndebeles outnumbered the Shonas, ZANU PF could not have lasted more than 10 years in power,” he said.
He went further, characterizing the Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s as a calculated act of genocide aimed at reducing the Ndebele population.
“The Gukurahundi genocide was strategic. They wanted to reduce the number of men who could give birth to children,” Chiwenga said.
“They wanted to control the population growth of the Ndebeles. Because Mugabe and his cronies knew that Shonas were cowards, then the Ndebeles were warriors.”
The Gukurahundi massacres, which occurred between 1983 and 1987, saw thousands of civilians—mainly from the Ndebele-speaking population in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands—killed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade of the Zimbabwean army. The term “Gukurahundi” comes from a Shona phrase meaning “the early rain that washes away the chaff.”
Chiwenga’s comments didn’t stop at historical events.
He blamed the longevity of ZANU PF’s rule on the alleged passivity of the Shona population. “If we had the same number of Ndebeles as the Shonas in Harare, it wouldn’t take three years to remove ZANU PF. Shonas are cowards,” he declared.
In support of his views, Chiwenga cited the First Chimurenga uprising of 1896–1897, claiming the Ndebele were the original resistors of British colonialism, with the Shona only joining later. “You don’t know your history, go and find out. Ask them who was in the Anglo-Ndebele war. Who started the First Chimurenga? It’s not the Shonas. It’s not ZANU,” he said. “They were lying to us. History is there. Some of us, we read. And so we know what is true and what is not true.”
He ended his sermon with a sharp rebuke of religious and political figures aligned with the establishment, singling out one in particular. “The point is, Andrew Wutaunashe is a fool,” he said.
Chiwenga’s remarks have sparked debate on social media and in political circles, with some accusing him of inciting tribal hatred, while others argue he is opening up uncomfortable but necessary conversations about Zimbabwe’s ethnic and political history.