Presidential Envoy and Ambassador-at-Large Uebert Angel launched a fierce public defence of Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga on Sunday, condemning what he called vitriolic attacks on the former army commander and warning Zimbabweans against joining Marry Mubaiwa's public criticism of her former husband.
The intervention, delivered during a church service at Angel's Spirit Embassy ministry on November 1, has stunned political observers because the preacher had himself been publicly hostile to Chiwenga only months earlier, according to Nehanda Radio.
What Uebert Angel said about Chiwenga
Angel did not mince his words before his congregation. He described the attacks on the Vice-President as disgraceful and hollow.
The vitriolic attacks against Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga is a disgraceful exhibition of political impropriety and a display of intellectual bankruptcy.
He acknowledged that criticism of national leaders, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, is legitimate and even necessary in any healthy political culture. But he drew a hard line between scrutiny and contempt.
Criticism is legitimate. You should. You must. People criticise me. They criticise the President. They criticise the Vice-President. It's allowed. But contempt masquerading as criticism is diabolic. It's evil.
Angel also turned the logic of Chiwenga's detractors against them. He asked why anyone who genuinely believed the Vice-President was dangerous would dare to challenge him in the open.
If you say Chiwenga is dangerous and you come out and oppose him publicly, you're giving us a public review that he is not as dangerous as we thought.
A dramatic U-turn from July's sermon
The defence marks a striking reversal for the presidential envoy. In July, Angel declared during a sermon that a person he described as the country's future successor was suffering from a hidden illness and was walking, but dead inside. He never named Chiwenga, but the remarks were widely read as a pointed message in the middle of Zanu-PF's succession politics, with the Vice-President at the centre of the speculation. ZimEye reported at the time that Angel also told his congregation another one is coming after August, a prediction that came to nothing as the month passed with Chiwenga still in office.
Now, from the same pulpit, the man who once appeared to be sharpening knives against the Vice-President is demanding that Zimbabweans hush and let him work. The NewsHawks noted that Sunday's sermon followed weeks of social media argument about an alleged death prophecy aimed at Chiwenga, zimDaily reported.
The shadow of Wicknell Chivayo's death
Angel's remarks land in an already volatile political environment. The death of businessman Wicknell Chivayo in a helicopter crash near Marondera on September 30, which also claimed the lives of his wife Lucy Muteke and three other people, has added a new layer of uncertainty to the succession battle.
Chivayo was widely regarded as a close ally of President Mnangagwa and had cultivated relationships with several powerful figures within the ruling establishment, including Angel himself. His growing political and financial influence had reportedly become a source of friction between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, who had criticised Chivayo and other wealthy businessmen associated with the President. There is no established evidence linking the helicopter crash to the factional battles, but speculation has been relentless, and some commentators argue that individuals perceived to be aligned with Mnangagwa could feel increasingly exposed as tensions intensify.
ZimEye described Angel's intervention as a U-turn, coming after he had publicly threatened the Vice-President with a death prophecy, a framing that captures how sharply the preacher's posture has shifted in four months.
Why Angel invoked Mnangagwa's authority
Beyond defending Chiwenga, Angel leaned on the authority of the President himself. He argued that Mnangagwa's decision to retain Chiwenga as his deputy should settle the matter for anyone tempted to attack him publicly.
If the President sees him fit to still be the Vice-President, it must be a sign that I, with my little mouth or big mouth, should hush.
He also addressed the spectacle of Marry Mubaiwa's recent interview, in which she made damaging allegations against her former husband. Using a hypothetical divorce scenario, Angel warned Zimbabweans against taking sides in disputes between former spouses, arguing that doing so could be interpreted as undermining the authority of the person who initiated the separation. His message was blunt: those piling onto Chiwenga through his estranged wife are playing a dangerous and dishonourable game.
Zanu-PF factional tensions spill into the open
The sermon comes amid renewed political tension between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, tensions that recently spilled into public view during the Zanu-PF Annual National People's Conference in Chinhoyi. iHarare reported that Angel's defence of the Vice-President comes as the succession battle grows more intense, with the preacher now urging Zimbabweans to support the country's leadership rather than participate in what he called political drama.
Angel rejected any suggestion that his intervention was factional. He insisted he is not aligned with any competing camp and urged Zimbabweans to allow Chiwenga to discharge his responsibilities as Vice-President without distraction.
Whatever his motives, the intervention has redrawn the map of Zanu-PF's internal politics. A man once counted among the loudest voices against Chiwenga has now positioned himself as the Vice-President's shield, and the country is left to wonder what changed between July's sermon and Sunday's pulpit.
FAQ
What did Uebert Angel say about Vice-President Chiwenga?
On Sunday, November 1, Angel condemned attacks on Chiwenga as disgraceful political impropriety and warned that contempt disguised as criticism is evil, while urging Zimbabweans to let the Vice-President do his job.
Why is Angel's defence of Chiwenga considered a U-turn?
In July, Angel told his congregation that a future presidential successor was walking, but dead inside, remarks widely interpreted as targeting Chiwenga, which makes his defence of the Vice-President a dramatic reversal.
How is Wicknell Chivayo's death connected to the tensions?
Chivayo, a close ally of President Mnangagwa, died in a helicopter crash near Marondera on September 30. His reported friction with Chiwenga over wealth and influence had fed the succession battle, though no evidence links the crash to the factional fighting.