'Mnangagwa-Mugabe reconciliation claim 'a lie''

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's assertion that he had "totally" reconciled with his late predecessor Robert Mugabe before his death has been dismissed as false by Mugabe's last spokesperson, Jealousy Mawarire.

Mawarire, who served as Mugabe's spokesman from shortly after the former leader was ousted in the 2017 military-assisted takeover until his death on September 6, 2019, said no such reconciliation ever took place.

His remarks follow an interview Mnangagwa gave to veteran journalist Reuben Barwe, in which the President claimed Mugabe later conceded he had been misinformed about the events surrounding his removal and that the two agreed to move on.

"I think he was misinformed because later on we discussed and he said he was sorry it was the work of people," Mnangagwa said. "I told him we had come from far and we should move on, let's forget."

Asked whether they had reconciled by the time of Mugabe's death, Mnangagwa repeatedly emphasised the point, saying: "Totally, totally, totally. We had opened up to each other, opened up totally."

But Mawarire strongly rejected the claim, saying there was no meeting between the two after the 2017 coup.

"ED knows that's a lie from the pit of hell," Mawarire said. "ED didn't meet President Mugabe after the coup, neither did Mugabe apologise — apologise for being couped?"

He added that there was no evidence of any reconciliation, arguing that such a meeting would have been publicised if it had occurred.

"Reuben Barwe, of all people, knows that such a meeting NEVER took place and anyone with a little bit of brain would know this is a lie," Mawarire said. "With the ED government's penchant for propaganda and Kodak moments, surely details of that meeting, and pictures, could have been leaked to the media."

Mawarire also questioned why, if a reconciliation had indeed taken place, Mnangagwa would allow individuals linked to his administration to threaten Mugabe's family.

"If ED really reconciled with Mugabe, why is he allowing proxies to torment his family, threatening exhumation of the late President?" he asked.

Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years before his removal, remained openly hostile to Mnangagwa's administration until his death. In the run-up to the 2018 elections, he publicly backed opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, describing Mnangagwa's government as oppressive and the so-called "Second Republic" as unconstitutional and illegal. He also called for international intervention.

There is no public record of Mnangagwa and Mugabe meeting after the coup. The first visible sign of thawing relations between the two families came years later, when former first lady Grace Mugabe attended Mnangagwa's third swearing-in ceremony in September 2023.

"Mugabe died bitterly betrayed by ED and some of us who remained close to him after November 2017 know the truth," Mawarire said. "Lying about the dead, simply because they can't answer back is callous."

He went on to accuse Mnangagwa of habitual dishonesty, alleging the President had misrepresented various aspects of his personal and political history.

"ED lies about everything," Mawarire said. "Everything about him is a BIG LIE."