A FORMER deputy director general in the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) has made sensational claims that President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his deputy Constantino Chiwenga and late Fifth Brigade commander Perrence Shiri planned the 2017 coup just after their central roles in the Gukurahundi genocide, to avoid prosecution.
According to former CIO deputy director Lovemore Mukandi, Mnangagwa, Chiwenga, Shiri and two CIO officials Edson Shirihuru (deputy director general) and Menard Muzariri planned the coup in fear of being forced to stand trial for the massacres if power was transferred to an individual they did not trust.
Mukandi, who just released 'How Mnangagwa Blindsided Robert Mugabe and Grabbed Zimbabwe', a book that narrates the country's political history from his perspective, was speaking in an online interview to promote it.
The Gukurahundi was one of Zimbabwe's darkest periods in history when a section of the military (the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade) killed 20,000 mainly Ndebele-speaking people of Matabeleland, Bulawayo and Midlands provinces in a bid by Mugabe to quell any hopes of defiance against his government.
"This was long planned in the 1980s because Mnangagwa wanted to rule but realised he would not win elections," said Mukandi.
"Regards the timing, we have to go back to atrocities committed in Matabeleland. The Fifth Brigade was being commanded by Shiri, and Chiwenga was commanding a brigade in the Midlands or Matabeleland province where these atrocities took place.
"You would find that Shiri, Chiwenga and some top officials in the CIO including Shirihuru and Muzariri were all involved in those atrocities and all reported to Mnagagwa who was coordinating them.
"There was this fear among them arising from the fact that there was an outcry about this genocide that had been committed in Matabeleland and it was known to this group of people; Mnangagwa, Shiri, Chiwenga, Shirihuru, Muzaririri among others that one day they might have to account for these atrocities.
"Their fear was that they might face prosecution in future for these atrocities."
Shiri, who referred to himself as Black Jesus during the Gukurahundi era, died on July 29, 2020. The moniker was in reference to his unlimited power in deciding whether one lived or died.
Mukandi claimed former President Robert Mugabe had already made it known to Mnangagwa that Sydney Sekeramayi would succeed him, a move that would not have been suitable for him and his associates.
Added Mukandi: "I believe Mugabe in 2017, because of old age and being unwell, felt that the time had come for him to relinquish power to a chosen successor.
"I know for a fact from my interaction with Mugabe when I was deputy director general that he preferred Synedy Sekeramayi to be his successor.
"This was known to Mnangagwa and this is why he felt emboldened to push to get into power unconstitutionally because he knew he was not a chosen successor.
"These people who had been involved in atrocities in Matabeleland knew this was what was about to happen and feared that if power was handed over to someone they did not trust to protect them once in office then they would be in serious trouble as they might have faced prosecution.
"The November 2017 coup was meant to preempt the handover of power to somebody that Mnangagwa and company did not trust to protect them once they got into power, someone who might have prosecuted them. This is what motivated the coup."
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Mukandi fled to Canada at the turn of the millennium after his dismissal from the CIO on allegations of having defrauded the agency of millions meant to build safe houses.
He was deported back to the country in September 2011 when the trial commenced. The trial which had been set for December that year did not kick off.
Upon his dismissal, Mukandi was replaced by Happyton Bonyongwe, who surprisingly released his memoirs a week ago, at a function attended by Mnangagwa and the military's top brass in Harare.
Bonyongwe's book is titled One among Many: My Contribution to the Zimbabwe Story.
