Geza resurfaces, warns Mnangagwa, Tagwirei faction

Firebrand war veterans leader Blessed Geza has resurfaced with renewed political attacks against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his close business associates, accusing them of corruption, betrayal, and manipulating public institutions to extend Mnangagwa's rule beyond his constitutional limit.

In a fiery address delivered in Shona late Monday night, Geza directly targeted Mnangagwa's inner circle - including prominent businessmen Kudakwashe Tagwirei, Wicknell Chivayo, and Paul Tungwarara - accusing them of abusing state resources to entrench the President's grip on power and sideline genuine liberation war veterans.

Geza, now openly echoing sentiments associated with Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga's faction, accused the so-called "zvigananda" - a slang term now used in Zimbabwe's political arena to describe opportunistic dealers and tenderpreneurs - of hijacking the liberation legacy for personal enrichment.

"Tagwirei, you are way too too too too too small," Geza warned in his speech. "Tables can turn overnight. You should know that power doesn't last forever, especially when it is built on corruption and betrayal."

He alleged that Tagwirei and his business allies are using their ill-gotten wealth to influence Zanu PF's internal power dynamics, particularly as the succession battle between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga escalates.

President Mnangagwa is currently serving his second and final constitutional term, set to end in 2028. However, a growing faction within Zanu PF - believed to be aligned with the President - is reportedly lobbying for constitutional amendments to extend his tenure to 2030 or beyond. This has triggered growing resentment from war veterans and military elements aligned with Chiwenga, the man widely credited with orchestrating the 2017 coup that brought Mnangagwa to power.

Geza reminded the President of his origins, asserting that it was Chiwenga who "rescued" him from political exile in South Africa during the height of the Zanu PF succession battle in 2017.

"You were a refugee in South Africa. It was Chiwenga who brought you back and made you President. Don't forget that," Geza charged.

He also revisited a warning reportedly given by the late former President Robert Mugabe during the coup - that Mnangagwa was not a reliable political bet, and that Chiwenga should have taken over instead. "Mugabe said it. And today we see it. The warning has come to pass," Geza said.

Criticising the President for surrounding himself with former rivals, whom he now treats as allies, Geza said Mnangagwa had abandoned war veterans and the majority of Zimbabweans to dine with "sellouts and thieves."

"The crumbs you get from these elites are a poisoned chalice," he warned Zanu PF supporters. "Don't be fooled by the handouts - they are meant to blind you from the truth."

Geza's repeated threats that Chiwenga and the army will eventually act to remove Mnangagwa have, however, begun to draw scepticism, with some observers questioning the credibility of his statements in the absence of any concrete moves from the military.

Still, his latest address has added fuel to the deepening factional divisions in Zanu PF as the 2028 political succession issue continues to destabilise the ruling party.

Neither Mnangagwa's office nor the businessmen targeted by Geza have officially responded to his remarks.