Retired Lt General Winston Sigauke Mapuranga@SajeniMapuranga
I have worn the uniform long enough to know what real power looks like. I fought in the liberation war, served on the Joint Operations Command, and watched two presidents rise and fall. Now I'm retired, but I still see what's happening in Harare better than most because I'm not part of the current circus.
Mnangagwa is done. General Chiwenga is next. This is not speculation this is how the machinery works.I was there in 2017 when we made the decision to remove Mugabe. We thought we were creating a new beginning, but the truth is, we were just setting up the next phase of the same system.
Mnangagwa was always the transitional president. That's what he was meant to be the bridge between the old guard and whoever comes next. The military didn't put him in to stay forever we put him in to stabilize the transition.
Now, 40 years after I retired from active command, I can see the pattern more clearly. The information minister is running around telling the world "no vacancy in the president's office," but that's propaganda for foreign consumption. Inside the party, inside the military, inside the Joint Operations Command, everyone knows the vacancy exists.
It's just been put on hold while General Chiwenga finishes building his coalition.I have spoken to retired generals, provincial commanders, even some current military officers who still trust me because of my history.
The message is unanimous: Mnangagwa will go. He's fighting it, yes. He's trying to cling to power until 2030, but the party machinery is too big for one man to control forever. The Lacoste faction is crumbling. The military's patience is wearing thin.
General Chiwenga has been doing the work. He's been rebuilding the army's loyalty, reconnecting with the war veterans who feel abandoned, and most importantly, he's been quietly securing the provinces. I have seen the reports from Mashonaland Central, from Midlands, from Matabeleland South. The provincial chairs are not singing Mnangagwa's song anymore. They're preparing for the transition.
The party conference in 2024 wasn't about extending Mnangagwa's term. That was a tactical delay, nothing more. The real decision was made in closed sessions where the military leadership and the party elders agreed the timeline is set, the transition is coming, and General Chiwenga is the man.
I remember when Mugabe thought he was untouchable. I remember when he thought he could name his own successor. Look how that ended. Mnangagwa is making the same mistake. He thinks he can rewrite the rules, that he can stay until 2030 against the will of the party that put him there.
But ZANU-PF doesn't work that way. The party is bigger than any single person. The Joint Operations Command has always been the real power in Zimbabwe, and right now, the Command is preparing for General Chiwenga's succession.
The military knows what they want. The war veterans know what they want. The provincial structures know what they want. Only Mnangagwa and his tiny circle of yes-men are pretending otherwise. When the transition happens and it will happen it won't be dramatic. It won't be a coup. It'll be a respectful retirement, a "voluntary stepping aside," and General Chiwenga will become both ZANU-PF first secretary and president of Zimbabwe.
The world will call it peaceful transition. The opposition will call it more of the same. But inside the party, we know it's the natural order of things. I am telling you this as someone who's watched this game for decades. I've seen the coups, the purges, the power struggles. I know how it ends. Mnangagwa is fighting a battle he's already lost. The question isn't whether he goes, but when the party will finally move him aside.
The military has a code. We don't talk about politics publicly. But I am retired now, and I've seen enough.
