Former ZANU PF Mashonaland West Provincial Chairman, Temba Mliswa, has dismissed claims that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is frail and in poor health.
The remarks come after a video from Mnangagwa’s speech at the official opening of the 3rd Africa Education Summit 2025 in Victoria Falls went viral on social media.
In the video, Mnangagwa can be seen making wartime jokes and humorous gestures while speaking in Shona, leaving some foreign delegates in the audience visibly puzzled.
Following the viral clip, Jealousy Mawarire accused those close to Mnangagwa of exploiting him, urging him to stay in office instead of advising him to step down and rest.
Hopewell Chin’ono also chimed in, suggesting that if the President had genuine supporters, they would not allow him to continue in this manner.
In response to these claims, Mliswa took to X, asserting that Mnangagwa is neither frail nor sickly, and remains as sharp as ever for his age. Wrote Mliswa:
In the aftermath of Geza’s uprising fizzling out like a wet firecracker, many hopefuls have resorted to spinning tales of a frail & sickly President. Let me clear the air: those whispers couldn’t be further from reality. The man remains as sharp as ever for his age.
You can’t just fabricate a narrative & genuinely expect it to take root. While differing views are a staple of democracy, it’s far more constructive to strengthen your party or candidacy than undermining an elected leader with fabrications, hoping we will buy into the fiction.
I had the chance to see the President up close at a recent vaMhari event at his farm. He was lively, even dancing to some traditional tunes—definitely not the behavior of someone who is frail and ill.
I’ve never been one for sycophancy, even back in my MP days; my critiques of Gvt have always been aimed at progress. The difference is that those who see my stance as bootlicking thrive on vitriol and insult. I don’t practice such politics against anyone.
This whole narrative painting the President as sick is just that: an insult lacking any substance. Recently, at the Education conference in Vic Falls, he cracked a joke that actually tied into the broader context of his speech.
Yet, those who were absent trimmed the video & turned it into “proof” of his incompetence. Seriously, who does that? For those of us in attendance, including foreign guests, the point was crystal clear, and it had nothing to do with any sort of amateur psychological evaluation.
You can’t cherry-pick scripture from the Bible to suit your agenda, just as you can’t splice up a video, eviscerating the context & claim it proves something that isn’t there. The President is aware of his state, which is why he has floated the idea of stepping down in 2028.
Spinning a false narrative won’t speed his departure; savvy political minds should focus on building genuine grassroots support. Get out there, engage with communities, & prepare for the ballot in 2028, instead of lurking on social media telling each other comforting lies.
The opposition has been caught in this trap for years, blissfully convincing themselves that the 180,000 people on X represent the entire nation. Come election time, reality hits them hard. Right now, as someone famously put it, the opposition is “dead as a dodo.”
For those abroad, stop resting on the laurels of misinformation about the President being ill; make plans to come back and vote. Surviving on politics steeped in deception and empty promises won’t get you anywhere. Forge your own path.
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