Mutsvangwa says Geza deserves national hero status

Senior Zanu-PF official Christopher Mutsvangwa has said late war veteran Blessed Geza, who died in exile in South Africa last Friday, deserves a national hero's burial despite his public fallout with President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Geza, a former Zanu-PF Member of Parliament and Central Committee member, died with treason charges hanging over him after calling for nationwide protests last year aimed at removing Mnangagwa from power. Although the protests failed, they led to widespread disruption, with more than a dozen activists still in custody and several others fleeing into exile.

Opinion within the ruling party appears divided over Geza's legacy, and Mutsvangwa's comments mark the first public response by a senior Zanu-PF figure since his death.

"Both the party and war veterans feel that he is a comrade who faltered at the last mile," Mutsvangwa said.

"We blame this on the fact that Geza was no longer well. He was thus not thinking properly, which made him vulnerable to people who want to steal the history of the people of Zimbabwe.

"We embrace him back. As Zanu-PF and war veterans, we say your history will not change despite what happened recently."

Mutsvangwa said Geza deserved a "decent burial" and that war veterans would lobby for his liberation war credentials to be preserved.

"It cannot be taken away from him," he said, adding that war veterans would also provide immediate support to Geza's widow, Roseline Tawengwa.

He expressed confidence that President Mnangagwa would ultimately sanction a burial "befitting of a liberation war veteran."

Geza rose to national prominence in January 2025 when he appeared on a YouTube broadcast announcing that he and a group of fellow war veterans were withdrawing their support for Mnangagwa, accusing the President of corruption and misrule. He later fled Zimbabwe and continued broadcasting from exile, attracting significant public attention.

Without providing evidence, Mutsvangwa alleged that individuals linked to the late former President Robert Mugabe's Generation 40 (G40) faction had influenced Geza's campaign against Mnangagwa.

"Why can't the G40s and other such groups identify anybody else whom they could make a deal with and abuse? Why go for somebody who fought a liberation war?" Mutsvangwa said.

"They wanted to steal him from fellow comrades. It's theft of history, and Zanu-PF is totally against theft of history."

It remains unclear whether Mnangagwa will approve national hero status for Geza, given their public political rupture and Geza's role in mobilising protests that posed one of the most serious internal challenges to Mnangagwa's leadership in recent years.