Army Revolt Rumours Dismissed as “Deadly Nonsense” — VP Chiwenga Returns from Rome Amid Turmoil
By A Correspondent | ZimEye | 19 May 2025 – Harare, Zimbabwe | Government sources have strongly dismissed swirling reports claiming the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) held a private meeting today without Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and that they had withdrawn security personnel from the two leaders.
“There is no such development,” a senior government source told ZimEye on Monday. “The murmurs are there, that the VP has let them down. But the army cannot withdraw security from the president and they cannot meet privately and publish it. They will be killed straight away.”
The sources insisted that any authentic military arrangements of such a sensitive nature would never be made public. “If the army arranges something, it will never be published,” one source said, shutting down speculation of a brewing military revolt.
The Vice President, who reportedly returned from Rome today, has not commented on the rumours. Meanwhile, ZDF Commander General Valerio Sibanda was confirmed to have been attending a presidential agricultural meeting focused on the arrival of goats and sheep from Belarus — a project already drawing internal criticism over a lack of veterinary expertise and practical benefit to the armed forces.
While government insists that the president’s security remains intact, the source acknowledged that “ordinary army personnel can withdraw security from the Vice President, but not from the President. That’s impossible.”
Presidential Spokesman George Charamba had not commented at the time of writing.
The controversy was sparked by reports that army commanders had convened without their superiors to protest years of poor conditions, particularly the deteriorating welfare of soldiers. In 2022, Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri publicly lamented that soldiers had been reduced to rations of just sadza and beans, with many living in townships under squalid conditions due to lack of barracks accommodation.
“Our forces are renting accommodation and they’re being insulted daily,” Muchinguri told Parliament. “Sometimes they go without food, even uniforms — these are constitutional requirements.”
Despite the denials, deep internal frustrations remain evident. Other legislators have repeatedly warned that the government’s continued neglect of the army and police forces could become a national security threat.
Muchinguri herself is still to respond to viral accusations by war veteran is that she is receiving US$30,000 from corrupt people in order to block the constitutional removal of the president.
Still, the official message seemed repeatedly clear by mid afternoon Monday: no mutiny has taken place, and any attempt by the military to independently challenge presidential authority would be “met with instant consequences.”
This is a developing story.