Former Norton Member of Parliament Temba Mliswa has dismissed as “absolute lies” claims by activist Jealousy Mawarire that the aborted ZANU-PF Politburo meeting was a result of a massive showdown between President Mnangagwa and Vice President Chiwenga.

Mawarire had set social media ablaze with his version

He detailed an account claiming VP Chiwenga stormed party headquarters and blocked attempts to use the amended national Constitution as a basis for changing ZANU PF’s internal rules.

In his viral post, Mawarire alleged that Chiwenga declared he was “not going to allow ED and his cronies to illegally change the party constitution in the way they did the national constitution”.

He allegedly demanded to see 21 specific resolutions before President Mnangagwa could arrive.

According to that version, it was after that exchange that the meeting was abruptly called off.

Alternative Version

However, Mliswa has come out guns blazing, calling the narrative a complete fabrication by oppositional elements who have run out of initiatives to fight the Government and now survive politically by clutching at crumbs and inflating them.

He alleges that the decision to cancel the Politburo was actually a masterstroke to protect President Mnangagwa from an internal ambush.

“At the centre of the plot is a self-serving Gang of Four which includes Secretary for Legal Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi.

“The gang, which was never sincerely in support of the 2030 agenda and CAB3, sought to table a raft of unprocedural Constitutional Amendments that neither the President as First Secretary, nor the Secretary General, were aware of.

Among their proposals was a constitutional coup: to introduce amendments that would essentially mean being Party President doesn’t necessarily make one State President.

Thus the Party President would have the power to engineer the recall of anyone who may be State President.

“It was a coup against the President that was seen through before it commenced and was blocked.

According to Mliswa the postponement was not a sign of weakness, but of vigilance.

Context

The core of the alignment exercise stems from the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act signed into law on July 7, 2026.

It extended Presidential and Parliamentary terms from five to seven years, moving the expected end of Mnangagwa’s term from 2028 to 2030.

The Act also replaced direct election of the President with election by Parliament.

Minister Ziyambi as party Legal Secretary has been mandated to align party rules with these national changes.

The Irony

According to Mliswa it is ironic how people of “Jealousy’s kind are celebrating an initiative that was actually carried out to protect the same leader.

“There was no VP fuming and there was no showdown.

“There was a President being protected from legal chicanery by his own Secretary for Legal Affairs.