Tsenengamu Hints at Explosive Revelations About Senior Cabinet Minister

By A Correspondent

Former ZANU PF youth leader Godfrey Tsenengamu has claimed he is prepared to reveal what he describes as politically damaging information about a serving Cabinet minister whom he alleges opposed President Emmerson Mnangagwa before the November 2017 military intervention that led to the removal of former President Robert Mugabe.

Tsenengamu, who has become an outspoken critic of President Mnangagwa following his expulsion from ZANU PF, made the remarks in a social media post over the weekend.

Reflecting on the fierce factional battles that divided ZANU PF between 2015 and 2017, Tsenengamu recalled the rivalry between Team Lacoste, which backed then Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and the Generation 40 (G40) faction aligned with the late former First Lady Grace Mugabe.

According to Tsenengamu, he and fellow Team Lacoste activists often faced financial hardships while campaigning in support of Mnangagwa, at times sharing inexpensive meals in central Harare after addressing the media.

He alleged that during one such occasion near the corner of Eighth Street and Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, a fellow party member mocked Team Lacoste supporters, insisting they were backing the wrong candidate and predicting that Grace Mugabe's faction would ultimately prevail.

Tsenengamu further claimed that the same individual is now serving as a Cabinet minister in President Mnangagwa's government.

Without identifying the minister, he called on several former Team Lacoste members—including Paul Rwodzi, Batsirai Musona, Sigudu and Tonderai Bosha—to remember the incident, while also urging them not to publicly reveal the individual's identity.

The former youth leader did not provide evidence to support his allegations, and no Cabinet minister has publicly responded to the claims.

Tsenengamu was once one of Mnangagwa's most vocal supporters during the internal ZANU PF succession battles that culminated in the November 2017 military-assisted transition. As a prominent Team Lacoste activist, he frequently addressed press conferences defending Mnangagwa and criticising the G40 faction following Mnangagwa's dismissal as Vice President.

Relations between Tsenengamu and the ruling party later deteriorated, leading to his expulsion from ZANU PF in 2020 after he openly criticised the party leadership. Since then, he has remained a vocal commentator on Zimbabwean politics, repeatedly accusing the Mnangagwa administration of corruption, state capture and abandoning the principles Team Lacoste claimed to champion during the 2017 succession struggle.

His latest comments come amid ongoing speculation over internal divisions within ZANU PF, as succession debates and factional politics continue to dominate discussions ahead of future elections.