Could Chiwenga Be Zimbabwe's Next President? The Case for the General | General Chiwenga Show Ep 4

He is seventy, the man who led the army into Harare in November 2017, and today the vice president many Zimbabweans see as next in line. In Episode 4 of The General Chiwenga Show we make the case for General Constantino Chiwenga, as his supporters and a number of analysts make it, and then we give you the other side.

In this episode:
- The record: from ZANLA in 1973 to 14 years as Defence Forces commander, vice president and health minister
- The kingmaker: November 2017, and the "one-term deal" claim, fact-checked
- The power base: the military, the war veterans, the chiefs and the party
- The rulebook: how Amendment No. 3 moves the contest to Parliament, section 101, and the age gap
- The five roads: the courts, the veterans, the impatient, the silent insiders and the opposition
- The other side: party control, new commanders, the rivals

The case is presented as the case its supporters and analysts make. No prediction is presented as fact. Accurate as of 1 November 2026.

Will Chiwenga be Zimbabwe's next president? Yes or no, in the comments.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction
1:48 The record
3:09 The kingmaker
4:32 The power base
5:49 The rulebook
7:21 The five roads
8:45 The other side
9:43 The verdict

SOURCES
- Charles A. Ray, Foreign Policy Research Institute (2 Jun 2026): "Mnangagwa vs Chiwenga: The Existential Battle for Power in Zimbabwe"
- Reason Wafawarova, ZimEye (22 Aug 2026): "CAA3 Does Not Solve the Succession Question. It Creates New Battlefields for Chiwenga"
- Reason Wafawarova, ZimEye (27 Oct 2026): "The General's Five Roads Out of Political Oblivion"
- Gabriel Manyati, Nehanda Radio (10 Oct 2026): "Inside the explosive Mnangagwa-Chiwenga power struggle"
- The NewsHawks (15 Nov 2025): "A Take On Chiwenga Succession Bid" (opinion)
- ZimLive (16 Oct 2026): "Chiwenga questions Mnangagwa's record as succession battle simmers"
- NewZimbabwe (17 Oct 2026): "Mnangagwa fires back at relentless Chiwenga"
- Nehanda Radio (22 Oct 2026): war veterans back VP Chiwenga after the ZANU PF conference
- Government spokesman Nick Mangwana on X (25 Oct 2026): VP Chiwenga acting president, 25–27 October
- Constitution Amendment Act No. 6 of 2026 (Amendment No. 3), section 101, via Veritas
- Peter Fabricius, ISS Today (23 Oct 2026): "Mnangagwa wins the latest round"
- Wikipedia: Constantino Chiwenga (career dates); Emmanuel Matatu (ZDF command, Nov 2025)
- Map data: GSHHS / WDB (basemap-data), world-atlas (Natural Earth), GeoNames

CREDITS
Footage: VP Chiwenga speaking, as circulated; VP Chiwenga at Chinhoyi, as circulated
Photographs: ZBC News, AFP, AP and others, as supplied
Maps and motion graphics: Upright Films, from open map data
Audio: narration and sound effects only
Narration, graphics and edit: Upright Films

Constitutional clarification: Under sections 101 and 92, a vice-president acts temporarily while Parliament elects a president within thirty days.
Act text: https://zimlii.org/akn/zw/act/2026/6/eng%402026-07-07