Kudzanai Chipanga Back in the Spotlight, The Politics of Loyalty and Survival in ZANU–PF

By Staff Reporter

Makoni- Kudzanai Chipanga, once the poster boy of youthful loyalty during the Mugabe era, has bounced back into Zimbabwe’s political limelight with surprising speed. Many still remember him for that infamous statement in 2017, when he publicly declared support for the expulsion of then–Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a stance that marked him as one of Robert Mugabe’s most visible youth defenders at the time. Yet, in a twist of fate that underlines the unpredictability of Zimbabwean politics, Chipanga has now found renewed relevance within the same party machinery that once sidelined him.

Re-admitted into ZANU–PF, Chipanga has quickly ascended the ranks, securing influential positions in his home district of Makoni and in Manicaland Province. His political comeback has been swift, almost seamless, as if the scars of 2017 had been erased by the currents of shifting alliances.

But his rise has not been without turbulence. Recently, Chipanga found himself on the receiving end of fierce criticism from war veterans and former service officers in Makoni. His attempt to vigorously promote the 2030 agenda by some politicians, sparked sharp resistance. The reason was simple,  Zimbabwe’s harmonized elections are constitutionally due in 2028, and many veterans of the liberation struggle viewed Chipanga’s rhetoric as a veiled endorsement of extending Mnangagwa’s rule beyond the five-year electoral cycle enshrined in the constitution.

At a tense district gathering, a war veteran stood up and challenged Chipanga openly, cutting through the ceremonial speeches with raw questions that echoed the frustrations of ordinary citizens. “Are people truly happy now? Do you think they will be happy until 2030 under this administration?” he asked, his voice steady but piercing. The room reportedly fell into an uneasy silence before murmurs rippled across the floor.

The criticism was not merely about timelines or constitutional technicalities. It touched deeper nerves—questions of corruption, governance, and the widening gap between political promises and lived realities. Under Mnangagwa’s leadership, Zimbabwe has slid further into economic despair, with poverty levels rising, inflation eroding incomes, and corruption scandals eroding public trust. The culture of “tenderpreneurship”, where politically connected elites enrich themselves through government tenders, has become a defining symbol of the administration. For many, Chipanga’s defense of the government smacked of political bootlicking, tone-deaf to the real suffering on the ground.

Observers note that Chipanga’s political trajectory reflects the survivalist nature of Zimbabwe’s ruling party. Once a loyal Mugabe lieutenant, he has reinvented himself as a Mnangagwa loyalist, seeking relevance and power in the shifting sands of factional politics. Yet, his run-in with war veterans demonstrates the fragility of such political maneuvering. The liberation war fighters, though aging, remain a critical constituency in ZANU–PF politics, wielding both symbolic authority and grassroots influence.

As the 2028 elections inch closer, the tension between constitutional order and political ambition is likely to sharpen. For Chipanga, his re-entry into the political stage may come with both opportunity and peril. His ability to balance loyalty to the current administration with the growing frustrations of the grassroots will determine whether his comeback story will be one of endurance, or yet another cautionary tale in Zimbabwe’s turbulent political theatre.

Earlier, the President refuted claims that he wanted to run until 2030, and said he will persuade his persuaders not to persuade him to until 2030.

ZANU PF is expected to hold its annual congress next month in October. Close sources told this publication that regardless of the vote buying and pampering of party activists with cars and money, it will not work, as there is widening gaps and frictions within the governing party.

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