Zimbabwe’s murky politics - One of the country’s grand old gunmen dies in an unexplained fire

                              Solomon Mujuru and Joyce Mujuru

THERE is no evidence to suggest that the death on August 16th of Solomon Mujuru, one of the most powerful figures in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party and a former head of Zimbabwe’s armed forces, was anything but an accident. But the senior party official accompanying his grieving widow, Joice, a Zimbabwean vice-president, around the burnt-out remains of their farmhouse outside Harare, the capital, in which he died, had little doubt as to the real cause of his demise. “This,” he declared, “is murder most foul.” His compatriots—on both sides of the political divide—appear to agree, though nobody is sure who is responsible.

Mr Mujuru’s death is bound to intensify the vicious battle between rival Zanu-PF factions swirling around the succession of the party’s ailing 87-year-old leader. There are fears of further bloodshed, even of a possible coup. Although Mr Mujuru left government service in the 1990s to devote himself to his vast business and farming interests, he continued to wield enormous influence and was the leading light behind his wife’s bid to succeed Mr Mugabe.

Regarded in Zanu-PF circles as a moderate reformist, Mrs Mujuru had recently appeared to gain the edge over her main rival, the ambitious hardline defence minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa. As Mr Mugabe’s state security minister in the early 1980s, he oversaw the Matabeleland massacres, when as many as 20,000 people were killed. He now chairs the supposedly defunct but still powerful Joint Operations Command (JOC), composed of all security chiefs. Many believe that this shadowy body, from which Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, is excluded, really runs the country.

                                   Emmerson Mnangagwa

So Mr Mnangagwa could be seen as the likeliest beneficiary of Mr Mujuru’s death. But a further candidate to succeed Mr Mugabe has recently emerged, who might also stand to gain—General Constantine Chiwenga, head of the country’s armed forces and a member of Zanu-PF’s powerful politburo. He is said to have gathered around him a clutch of influential hardliners, including Jonathan Moyo, Mr Mugabe’s self-appointed spin-doctor, Augustin Chihuri, chief of police, Johannes Tomana, the attorney-general, and Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba, who recently caused a stir by describing Mr Tsvangirai as a “national security threat”.

                                   General Constantine Chiwenga

Where Mr Mugabe himself stands in all this is unclear. He has never named an heir-apparent. Tenderly holding Mrs Mujuru’s hand at One Commando army barracks in Harare, whither her husband’s charred remains had been taken, he paid a glowing tribute to the “great deeds of a departed hero, which earned him profound respect and a special place in the history of Zimbabwe”. But his relations with Mr Mujuru had recently cooled after the former guerrilla leader suggested he was too old to win any more elections and should step down.

Zanu-PF leader, Robert Mugabe arrives in Highfields to address a pre-election rally in 1979. Next to him are much younger, now-retired Army General Solomon Mujuru (centre) and current Minister of Defence Emmerson Mnangagwa (right)

from the print edition | Middle East and Africa

The Economicst

Tribute to Retired General Solomon Mujuru Rex Nhongo

Born May 1 1949 and died August 16 2011.

A member of Zipra in the 1960s.


Joined Zanla in 1971.


Acting commander-in-chief of Zanla in 1975.


Joint leader of the Zimbabwe People’s Army – a united force of Zanla and Zipra – in 1976.


Deputy Secretary of Defence for Zanu in 1977.


Commander, Zimbabwe National Army in 1981.


Promoted to full General in 1992.


Member of Parliament for Chikomba from 1994 to 2000.


Member of Zanu PF’s politburo.

     Retired Army General Rex Nhongo 


The late Zanu PF politburo member, Solomon “Rex Nhongo” Mujuru, played a crucial role in President Robert Mugabe’s ascent to the leadership of Zanu in the 1970s.


Mujuru, who died yesterday night at his Beatrice farm, was one of the architects of the country’s liberation struggle which he led from the front.


Archival information shows that during the Liberation War, Mujuru, with the late Josiah Magama Tongogara, headed the Zanla forces, the military wing of Zanu, when President Mugabe had been jailed for 10 years between 1964 and 1974. Mugabe and Edgar Tekere, with the help of Chief Rekayi Tangwena, their medium, later slipped into Mozambique after their immediate release from jail with the active support of Mujuru.

Mujuru begged guerrillas, most of whom had never met Mugabe, to accept him as their leader. As a result Mujuru earned the tag King Maker in Zanu and according to his close associates, Mugabe remained indebted to him.


When Zimbabwe attained Independence in 1980 after a fierce liberation struggle, Mujuru played an instrumental role in the integration of Zanla, Zipra and Rhodesian forces into the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA).





Mujuru took over the command of the ZNA in 1980 and retired 10 years later to go into business and politics. He became an influential member of the politburo and the central committee.

Controversy also dogged the colourful former guerrilla leader. Speculation was high that he owned several farms in violation of the government’s one-man-one-farm policy.


In the mid-1990s, Mujuru clashed with Emmerson Mnangagwa, long considered Mugabe’s favoured heir, when Solomon bid to buy into the multi-billion dollar Zimasco, a chrome mining and smelting concern in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province.


Since then, Mujuru and Mnangagwa have been at crossroads which led to them leading opposing factions in Zanu PF. The factions are locked in a bitter fight of attrition to succeed the ailing and ageing Mugabe.

 Retired Zimbabwean army general Solomon Mujuru © attends the Zimbabwe Defence Forces day celebration in Harare in this August 11, 2009 file photo. Mujuru, 67, a key figure in internal battles over President Robert Mugabe's succession in his ZANU-PF party, died in a fire at his farmhouse, official sources said on Tuesday. Seated next to Mujuru are Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (L) and Mujuru's wife, Vice President Joice Mujuru 

The late Mujuru wanted his wife, Vice-President Joice Mujuru, to succeed Mugabe, while Mnangagwa faction is pushing for the Defence minister to take over from the 87-year-old veteran nationalist.


It is generally thought that Mujuru had a tremendous amount of influence on who leads Zanu PF and the country. There was media speculation that he would be backing Simba Makoni. Makoni was a candidate in the March 2008 presidential election.


However, the speculation was false and Mujuru never endorsed Makoni, who later formed his own party, named Mavambo, Kusile, Dawn, meaning “The Beginning of a New Dawn”.


Mujuru and his wife were among the Zanu PF party members subject to personal sanctions imposed by the United States.


According to the book African Nationalist Leaders in Rhodesia Who’s Who co-authored by Robert Cary and Diana Mitchell, during the detention of Tongogara between 1975 and 1976, Mujuru acted as commander-in-chief of Zanu forces.






At one time he was reported missing, together with a Badza – one of the leading commanders. His position as a military leader during the liberation struggle was fiercely contested by the late Ndabiningi Sithole, the late Joshua Nkomo and the late Bishop Abel Muzorewa.


The book claimed that it was reported from Maputo in February 1977 that Mujuru had been arrested by the Mozambique authorities and later released.

A Zimbabwean policeman walks past the burned home of retired army general Solomon Mujuru in Beatrice Farm on Tuesday. (PHILIMON BULAWAYO - REUTERS)