HARARE
–
A
group
of
war
veterans
on
Sunday
demanded
that
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
must
leave
office
“peacefully
or
otherwise”
while
describing
him
as
“not
fit
to
run
this
country.”
Led
by
Zanu
PF
central
committee
member
Blessed
Runesu
Geza,
the
liberation
fighters
convened
a
news
conference
in
Harare
where
they
launched
an
extraordinary
attack
on
Mnangagwa’s
regime,
triggering
speculation
that
they
were
stalking
horses
for
the
military
faction
in
the
ruling
party.
Flanked
by
five
other
men
he
introduced
as
commanders
from
both
ZPRA
and
ZANLA
“who
fought
in
the
trenches
to
liberate
this
country,”
Geza
said:
“It
is
clear
to
us
that
Mnangagwa
has
failed,
he
is
not
fit
to
run
this
country
and
his
time
to
go
is
now!
“We
ask
him
to
go
peacefully.
If
he
refuses
to
take
heed
of
this
advice,
we
have
no
option
but
to
ask
the
people
of
Zimbabwe
to
deal
with
a
rogue
president
in
line
with
the
constitution.”
War
veteran
Knox
Chivero,
who
spoke
after
Geza,
went
further
as
he
declared
that
“it
is
his
time
to
leave
peacefully
or
otherwise.”
Mnangagwa
is
currently
on
his
annual
leave
and
his
ambitious
deputy
Constantino
Chiwenga,
tipped
to
succeed
him
when
his
second
and
final
term
ends
in
2028,
is
acting
president.
The
press
conference
could
spook
Mnangagwa,
whose
supporters
have
launched
a
campaign
to
amend
the
constitution
to
remove
term
limits.
The
war
veterans
vowed
to
oppose
any
tinkering
with
the
constitution.
They
poo-pooed
Mnangagwa’s
public
claims
that
he
has
no
ambition
to
stay
in
power
beyond
2028.
Geza
warned
that
the
plan
would
“throw
the
country
into
disquiet.”
He
added:
“How
do
you
claim
not
to
be
involved
when
your
ministers
appointed
under
your
hand
issue
statements
in
support
of
this
illegal
and
treacherous
2030
agenda?”
The
war
veterans,
in
language
similar
to
that
used
by
Chiwenga,
then
commander
of
the
Zimbabwe
Defence
Forces
days
before
a
military
coup
ousted
Robert
Mugabe
in
2017,
claimed
Mnangagwa
had
“embraced
thieves,
conmen
and
heartless
killers
in
his
government.”
“Emmerson
Mnangagwa
on
assumption
of
power
showed
that
he
was
a
man
who
had
learned
nothing…
instead
of
correcting
the
mistakes
of
Robert
Mugabe,
he
went
about
proving
to
all
of
us
that
Mugabe
was
actually
a
saint,”
Geza
charged.
Mnangagwa
had
“systematically
targeted
and
purged
war
veterans
in
various
arms
of
government
and
replaced
them
with
crooks.”
The
president’s
cabinet
was
stuffed
with
ministers
“who
either
belong
to
his
clan
or
are
benefactors
to
his
family
through
his
childen,”
Geza
fumed.
He
added:
“Since
assuming
power,
Mnangagwa
has
neglected
civil
servants
who
are
now
earning
slave
wages.
Our
men
and
women
in
uniform
have
lost
their
dignity
even
in
the
eyes
of
the
public
due
to
state
sponsored
poverty.”
Geza
claimed
that
the
rising
frequency
of
deaths
of
ex-generals
were
suspicious,
adding
further
that
they
believe
the
deaths
are
“linked
to
Mnangagwa’s
blue-eyed
boy
Owen
Mudha
Ncube,”
the
former
state
security
minister.
Exiled
former
Zanu
PF
political
commissar
Saviour
Kasukuwere,
reacting
to
the
press
conference,
tweeted:
“Mgagao
Declaration
3.”
The
Mgagao
Declaration
was
a
communique
written
by
young
military
officers
at
the
main
ZANLA
training
camp
in
Tanzania
at
the
height
of
the
liberation
struggle
in
November
1975.
It
laid
the
foundation
for
the
removal
of
Ndabaningi
Sithole
as
leader
of
ZANU
and
the
elevation
of
Robert
Mugabe
at
a
special
congress
at
Chimoio
two
years
later
in
1977.
If
Mugabe’s
removal
was
Mgagao
Declaration
2,
Kasukuwere
was
intimating
that
a
third
leadership
change
in
Zanu
PF
is
imminent.
A
political
analyst
said
Geza
and
his
group
had
been
“sent.”
“The
forces
behind
them
are
either
powerful
or
reckless
or
desperate.
Time
will
tell
sooner
rather
than
later
as
to
which
is
which,”
he
said.