Your familiarity with soldiers does not make you a soldier – Mliswa warned, as disgruntled generals dig in on illegal Constitutional Amendment

RETIRED Lieutenant General Winston Sigauke Mapuranga, one of the disgruntled senior officers in Zimbabwe’s army who has raised issues with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s plans to illegally extend his stay until 2030, has warned former legislator Temba Mliswa not to misinterpret his proximity to power.

In a lengthy post addressed to the former Norton Member of Parliament (MP), in response to claims that their decision to stand against Zanu PF and Mnangagwa’s 2030 Agenda was dangerous, Mapuranga said Mliswa was not qualified to lecture any member of the uniformed forces.

A petition delivered to Parliament last week, signed by Retired Air Marshall Henry Muchena, shook corridors within Zanu PF as retired generals and war veterans dug deep to defend against what they said would be mutilation of the Zimbabwean constitution and disregard for lives lost during the country’s liberation war.

The petition followed Cabinet’s approval of principles of the Constitutional Amendment No.3 Bill which seeks to extend Mnangagwa stay in power to 2030 while also extending the life of Parliament.

Public hearings have been called by Parliament and fears abound it will go ahead and pass the Bill without going for a referendum as is dictated by the Zimbabwean Constitution.

“You are a politician. A vocal one I grant you that. But your familiarity with soldiers does not make you a soldier. And your proximity to power does not qualify you to lecture men who spent their entire adult lives in uniform about what the chain of command means, what respect for the Commander-in-Chief looks like, or what it costs to earn the right to speak on matters of national security,” said Mapuranga.

“I earned that right. Thirty years of service earned it. The men you are attacking earned it in the trenches of the liberation struggle before you were old enough to understand what liberation required. Do not come to us with a politician’s tongue and instruct us on military protocol.

“A soldier’s oath is to Zimbabwe and its Constitution not to any individual, not to any faction, and certainly not to any self-appointed political enforcer operating on social media.”

Mliswa, has been a strong advocate for the term extension, criticising anyone against it and defending the two years set to be added onto Mnangagwa’s second and final term if that is passed.

Mnangagwa’s stay will flout Section 91 and Section 328 of the Constitution which not only exist to bar anyone who would have served for two terms from running for a third term but also make it illegal for him to benefit from any amendment.

In an earlier post Mliswa had made reference to them being part of Zimbabwe’s Reserve Force, a platform for former high ranking army officers, and how the disgruntled generals were trying to fight a system which they were part of

Added Mapuranga: “You raise the Reserve Force as though it were a leash. As though the possibility of recall is meant to silence us.

“A soldier’s oath is to Zimbabwe and its Constitution not to any individual, not to any faction, and certainly not to any self-appointed political enforcer operating on social media.

“The Reserve Force exists to serve the Republic. It is not a mechanism for intimidating retired officers who exercise their constitutional right to speak. If you believe otherwise, I

“Threatening retired generals with recall as a consequence of public comment is not loyalty to the Commander-in-Chief. It is the behaviour of a bully who has mistaken proximity to power for power itself.

“Soldiers who speak from conscience are not a threat to this Republic. Politicians who weaponise the military against conscience those are the threat.

“I have served under the Commander-in-Chief. I respect the office. I respect the man’s longevity in public service that is not in dispute. But respect for the President does not require silence from citizens.”

The army played a central role in Mnangagwa’s 2017 takeover wherein he toppled late President Robert Mugabe in a massively supported coup.

A decision by Zanu PF (Resolution No.1) to frog-march Zimbabweans into two more years of Mnangagwa’s presidency has divided the party on clear factional lines.

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