controversial Zimbabwean businessman, Temba Mliswa, has written the following narrative, denying that Chiwenga was behind the removal of Mugabe:

Operation Restore Legacy As A Product of National Consensus

The birth of the 2nd Republic was a culmination of national consensus across the political divide with Parliament the pincer point of the project.

However, lately the narrative of Operation Restore Legacy (ORL) has been hijacked and framed as the heroic product of a single person who now feels entitled to be handed state power. Some of those who worked for ORL have found themselves painted as targets in a clever plot to sacrifice them, without due process, for one person’s political ambitions.

It is against this background that this piece sheds more light on the inner operations of ORL revealing the roles of other people who are being pushed away so as to, unfairly, redirect all the positive light on the individual of VP Chiwenga.

An Abandoned Army

In the years running up to 2016 the Army under CDF Chiwenga had severe financial issues to the extent of failing to provide uniforms or food for its officers. The build-up of political differences and factional fights had created a scenario where the Army was literally being neglected by Mugabe.

As a solution then VP Mnangagwa, CDF Chiwenga and SB Moyo liased with Tagwirei after which they visited Mugabe with a proposition that he could help the Army.

Tagwirei Funding Restore Legacy And Army Ties

As a result of this agreement Tagwirei began to provide support to the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) which included food and financial assistance. He became a state-recognised benefactor for the soldiers. In the run-up to ORL he provided 2 million litres of fuel to the army and this facilitated the initial movement of military personnel and arsenal. This is information that is accessible and known to many senior Army personnel like Sigauke, Shiri, AVM Moyo, Mashava, Rugeje, Tapfumaneyi, Sanyatwa and the late SB Moyo who was the lead strategist for the operation with Shiri. I liased with him!
Some with sensitive ignorance have recoiled at this piece of information but that doesn’t change it’s factuality!

After his return from China VP Chiwenga asked for another 3 million litres from Tagwirei and got it. In the absence of protocol it got to a point where people actually engaged Tagwirei to liase with the CDF for them. The former and the CDF became so close that Tagwirei was now recognised within the system as a benefactor for the the Army. The clearest indication of their relationship is how Command Agriculture, which was being led by the Army, ended up incorporating Tagwirei! More on this will come.

For ZANU PF operations during the operation Obert Mpofu received US$1,6 million through Tino Machakaire while War Veterans led by Tshinga Dube and the Women’s League received over US$2 million from Tagwirei. The Convention for War Veterans that was held at Gwanzura Stadium was fully funded by the same person.

Over a million US$ from Tagwirei was also spent in mobilising towards the Youths who had been organized to march to Mugabe’s Blue Roof residency to put pressure on him to resign.

At least US$10-US$15 million which was spent towards ORL came from one person; Tagwirei! It’s a staggering amount that makes the whole project a personal endeavour and explains how and why he appears to have gained so much prominence after 2017. Its unfortunate that Tagwirei has consistently refused to speak out and detail his massive exploits otherwise this was an open and shut case.

These details also betray the level of connection and centrality of some people whom VP Chiwenga now wants to disown by projecting ignorance about them.

These details of their close working relationship long before, render as obtuse the microwaved argument that the Army and specifically VP Chiwenga installed President Mnangagwa. For if that line of thinking is followed it leads us to conclude that Tagwirei was actually the real power behind Chiwenga and has more claim to the title of kingmaker! Its thus faulty for the VP to argue for the Presidency with an entitlement that stems from ORL because there are other people who did far much more!

Its an unfortunate and awkward truth that without Tagwirei the Army was an immobile financial relic that couldn’t have have mustered anything to take part in the ORL! While VP Chiwenga as CDF had the personnel and the Office it was through Tagwirei that he obtained the capacity for all that happened.

One fun fact from this period is that Tagwirei was being hounded by Kasukuwere who wanted him arrested then just as is happening today!

Hesitancy With Power

The veneration of VP Chiwenga as the Superhero of ORL, also lacks the factual details of what actually happened on the ground. The ZANU PF Central Committee which installed ED as President actually faced opposition from him and Obert Mpofu who argued that Mugabe was supposed to be removed at Congress!

Obert Mpofu actually refused to Chair the meeting over these differences resulting in Chinamasa taking over. This burns down the false perception of the superhero being peddled by his political allies.

When the uprising proper began VP Chiwenga was actually out of the country, in China. He had been targeted for arrest and Kasukuwere wanted to replace him with the late Lieutenant General (Retired) Douglas Nyikayaramba who was even made part of the party Commissariat in preparation for this at some point.

The uprising was however already moving on the ground with various engagements between political parties and their leaders such as Tsvangirai. The structure of the ORL had ED at the top constantly being engaged for directions which were related by Tagwirei to the other organisers and strategists who included SB Moyo, Shiri and Chiwenga.

It’s a fallacy, contrived by those with political ambitions, that ED was merely hiding waiting to be saved. He was the lead thinker and organiser for the whole thing which explains why he was able to declare in a public letter that I will be back in 2 weeks to lead the country!

Chiwenga who had been in China, was saved at the airport through the actions of Sanyatwe who was on the ground in charge of Presidential Guard.

With such details it becomes unpalatable then to have one individual harnessing all the credit and seeking to launch their political ambitions by betraying even those who did much more.

This is a sentiment that is present even within the Army itself as other senior officers feel unfairly treated by such actions. The Army wasn’t a homogenous entity but contained some who wavered and so those who stood for the struggle feel frustrated when their efforts and sacrifice are not recognized.

I say all these thing not to defend or attack any one person but to show the truth and legitimize my call for a different approach to both the political issues and the corruption problem in the country.

The Corruption Problem

What the country is facing in relation to corruption is of such grand scale that it requires an institution of Parliament’s level to investigate and interrogate it. No one individual can ever lead it because most of them are corrupt and compromised. This is where I have differed with most of you who are infatuated with Superheros.

Your weaknesses for Main Characters instead of persuasion for strong institutions is how the national agenda remains secondary. Its an approach that will never work because only one’s rivals will be targeted by the Superhero while the rest survive.

Thus, while I support VP Chiwenga’s anti-corruption efforts I have declared that he cannot, neither can anyone else, be allowed the free rein to play Judge and Jury by convicting others without due process. Instead, lets have a systematic approach that incorporates institutions such as Parliament, ZACC etc to lead these efforts. This ensures there are legitimate, professional and legally binding.

Parliament of Zimbabwe should exercise its oversight on these corruption issues so that we can appear before it to present.

What we should be having is the equivalent of South Africa’s Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, informally known as the Madlanga Commission not thinly veiled political witch-hunts aimed primarily at knocking out only those standing in one’s political path.

As we speak the ZANU PF Conference is underway and a huge part of the bill is being funded by the same Tagwirei! A sincere leader should have spoken out against this and even refused that kind of help but alas no, they are attending.

Same with Agenda 2030. VP Chiwenga was part of all the party meetings, Bulawayo Conference, Cabinet etc where discussions were done and he never thought to object until it was a party resolution compelling everyone to support it. Now he has created a scenario where innocent individuals are supposed to feel guilty for supporting a legitimate party position which he failed to block in its infancy!

This is the essence of bringing the party into disrepute because he abandoned the internal channels and opportunities and has inflamed the case into a public spectacle.

It’s apparent that as a politician the VP could do with some advisors who should assist him as currently it appears some people are misleading him. He remains a veritable military hero but his political craftsmanship requires better support.

As the song Musangano wakasimba kumaCell goes, there is a rallying need for the VP to craft a political base from the ground up especially in his native Mash East province if he is to become a political powerhouse. As it is he subsists mainly on his past as a military leader but as a politician lacks enough capital.

I told you kuti hakuna mutsvene!

I thank all those who continue to extend their support and to those praying for me. The time has come to speak the truth!

TIMELINE

Early November 2017

• November 6: President Robert Mugabe fires his long-time ally and Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, accusing him of disloyalty and plotting to seize power.
• Mnangagwa flees the country, going to South Africa and then reportedly to China, where the head of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), General Constantino Chiwenga, was also on a prearranged visit.
• The firing of Mnangagwa intensifies the power struggle between two factions within the ruling ZANU-PF party: the “Team Lacoste” faction (aligned with Mnangagwa) and the “Generation 40” (G40) faction (aligned with Grace Mugabe).

November 13, 2017

• General Chiwenga issues a statement warning that the military will “step in” if the “purges” of liberation war veterans within ZANU-PF do not stop. ZANU-PF accuses him of treason.

November 14, 2017

• Military armored vehicles are seen on the roads around Harare.
• The ZANU-PF Youth League, aligned with Grace Mugabe, states it is “ready to die” to prevent the army from deposing Mugabe.
• Soldiers take over the state broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).

November 15, 2017

• Major General Sibusiso Moyo appears on ZBC to announce that the military is “only targeting criminals around [Mugabe],” clarifying that the President and his family are safe and that this is not a coup. The military labels the action “Operation Restore Legacy.”

November 18, 2017

• Thousands of people gather in Harare and Bulawayo for protest marches, demanding Mugabe’s resignation.

November 19, 2017

• The ZANU-PF Central Committee holds a special meeting.
• The committee votes to remove Robert Mugabe as party president.
• Emmerson Mnangagwa is reinstated and elected as the interim party president.
• Several G40 faction members are expelled from the party.
• Mugabe is given a deadline to resign as President of the country.

November 21, 2017

• As Parliament begins impeachment proceedings, Robert Mugabe resigns from the presidency.

November 24, 2017

• Emmerson Mnangagwa is inaugurated as the third President of Zimbabwe.