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Mutsvangwa In Trouble For Glorifying Mnangagwa Foe Blessed Geza?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Tinashe Sambiri \u2013 ZANU PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa is facing mounting criticism within the ruling party after publicly commending the late war veteran Blessed Runesu Geza, a figure remembered for both his role in the 2017 political transition and his later criticism of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a press conference last week, Mutsvangwa revealed that he had intended to attend Geza\u2019s funeral in Sanyati on Monday, 16 February, but was out of the country in Mombasa, Kenya.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeza was very active in the fight against usurpation of power and attempts to set up a dynasty in the First Republic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mutsvangwa credited Geza with playing a decisive role during the internal battles against the G40 faction, adding that the late war veteran had personally drawn him into that struggle.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeza is the one who brought me into the fight against the G40s. I have a lot which I can talk about, Geza.<\/p>\n
There were attempts through a clandestine operation to arrest Cde Mahiya and Matendadama, and they were provided with a hiding place at Geza\u2019s farm in Sanyati. For us, Geza is a comrade we walked with during that difficult time of safeguarding the permanent Zimbabwe revolution. I definitely would have been available at his funeral for personal reasons, personal bonds, and for the things we did together when we worked against the G40. He was at the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also acknowledged the Geza family\u2019s liberation war credentials, noting that several of Blessed\u2019s siblings served as commanders. Mutsvangwa said ZANLA commander Josiah Magama Tongogara named a camp in Mozambique after Pessintine Geza, who died during the liberation struggle, and added that Blessed\u2019s brother Sam Geza was among ZIPA leaders who returned from Mozambique in 1975 to re-energise the armed struggle.<\/p>\n
However, Mutsvangwa\u2019s remarks have unsettled party hardliners who argue that Geza\u2019s later public criticism of the current leadership makes such praise inappropriate.<\/p>\n
One senior party official said, \u201cMutsvangwa is glorifying a man who publicly attacked our current leadership. Praising Geza now undermines party unity and will not be accepted by loyal members.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another hardliner added, \u201cGeza may have played a role in 2017, but elevating him now is political revisionism. Mutsvangwa is stirring factionalism.\u201d
Geza\u2019s burial reportedly received limited recognition from senior party figures, and he was not declared a national hero \u2014 a development widely interpreted as reflecting his strained relationship with sections of the current leadership.<\/p>\n
The controversy has once again exposed simmering tensions within ZANU PF, with observers suggesting that debates over the legacy of 2017 continue to shape internal dynamics.<\/p>\n
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