Former Zanu PF national youth secretary and current leader of the Front for Economic Emancipation of Zimbabwe (FEEZ), Godfrey Tsenengamu has expressed his displeasure with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership accusing him of failing to honour his earlier commitment to be different from his predecessor.
Tsenengamu, once a staunch supporter of Mnangagwa, expressed his disappointment at the president’s failure to fulfill his promises and address the challenges facing Zimbabwe.
In an interview with a local online television, Tsenengamu recalled his early prediction of Mnangagwa’s ascension to the presidency, despite it being considered taboo to openly discuss succession within Zanu PF, highlighting tribal tensions within the party.
“I was clear from the time Mai (Joice) Mujuru went down saying I think the one who is going to be the next president was Emmerson Mnangagwa and it was a taboo to say that. Where I was coming from in Mashonaland Central there were a lot of fights that were going on within Zanu PF, the maZezurus tribe versus the Karangas tribe, so naturally I was not expected to be siding with the Zezurus.
“When I was looking at Mnangagwa, I was not seeing a Karanga. I was seeing somebody with the potential of become a national leader, so I did not subscribe to this notion of tribal supremacy as it was happening in Zanu PF,” said Tsenengamu
The former youth secretary said his suspension from the party was a result of inviting Mnangagwa to a church event in Mashonaland Central against the provincial leadership’s wishes.
“I got myself suspended because I had used the church platform to bring Mnangagwa at Gora to the late VaWimbo. By then the provincial gurus had said Mnangagwa should not come to Mashonaland Central. I thought that Mnangagwa deserved to be given a chance to prove what he had said that he was a better leader and I was looking at him as somebody who was very loyal for some time to the then President Robert Mugabe and I thought that he had learnt a number of things from the way Mugabe did his things, what he did right and what he did wrong.
“I also thought that maybe he was going to be the bridge between the old madhalas (guard) and the young people coming as a transitional leader. In my mind, I would say that if Mugabe steps down, Mnangagwa would come in and after him I had two options between Saviour Kasukuwere and Walter Mzembi. From our engagements pre-November 2017, he would appear like someone who was sincere and when he got into power, I expected that he was going to keep his word, he was going to do as we had been discussing before he got into power,” said Tsenengamu.
Tsenengamu said he soon recognized that Mnangagwa had handpicked his advisors and was comfortable working with them to further his own agenda.
“When I realised that this was not happening, at first, I thought that those who were around him were the problem, but I said, no we are going into the same trap or scenario like we did with Mugabe when we thought that he himself was okay, only those who were surrounding him were the problem. But I said no, these people who are surrounding Mnangagwa did not come from heaven, he appointed them and he is comfortable working with them, he is pushing through his agenda and whatever that he seeks to do through them,” he said.
