Constantino Chiwenga (born Constantine Guveya Dominic Nyikadzino Chiwenga) (born 25 August 1956), is a Zimbabwean politician and former army general currently serving, since 2017, as the First Vice-President of Zimbabwe under President

Emmerson Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (, American English, US: (); born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Muga ...

. In August 2020, he added the Health Ministry to his portfolio. Since 2017, he has also been the Vice President and Second Secretary of the ruling

Zimbabwean African National Union–Patriotic Front Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Moza ...

(ZANU-PF) jointly serving with Kembo Mohadi. In 2017, he was the most prominent military leader involved in successfully toppling Zimbabwe's President of 37 years

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

in a bloodless coup.

Personal life

Chiwenga was born in 1956 in

Wedza District Wedza (or Hwedza) is a district in the province of Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe. It is located about south of Marondera, and south of Harare. The area was sparsely inhabited by the Mbire people of the Soko Clan as early inhabitants who mined iron i ...

Mashonaland East Province Mashonaland East, informally Mash East, is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 32,230 km2 and a population of approximately 1.35 million (2012). Marondera is the capital of the province. Geography Districts Mashonaland East i ...

. He was educated up to

O Level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

at St Mary's Mission in Hwedza, together with former students:

Perrance Shiri Perrance Shiri (born Bigboy Samson Chikerema; 11 January 1955US Code Co ...

, later Air Marshal, and Shungurirai, later Brigadier General and Commander Mechanised Brigade. Chiwenga went on to earn a PhD in Ethics from the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. ...

in 2015. On 29 July 2016, he changed his name to Constantino Guveya Dominic Nyikadzino Chiwenga. Chiwenga has been married and divorced several times. In 1998 he married Jocelyn Jacobsen (née Mauchaza) with a divorce in 2012. There were no children from his marriage to Jacobsen. In 2011 he married Marry (Mary) Mubaiwa, a former model, while still married to Jacobsen. In 2012 Marry bore their first child, a son, and a year later she bore a girl. In 2019, suffering from an undisclosed ailment, Chiwenga checked into a South African hospital. A fracus arose when his wife Marry visited him. She was later charged with attempted murder. In December 2019 Chiwenga filed for divorce from Marry.Chiwenga married Colonel MIniyothabo Baloyi a serving member of the Zimbabwe National Army in June 2022.

Rhodesian Bush War

He joined the war in 1973 and was trained in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

as a

ZANLA Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant African nationalist organisation that participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhode ...

militant. Chiwenga adopted the war name of "Dominic Chinenge". He rose through the ranks to become a Provincial Commander for Masvingo/Gaza Province deputised by George Chiweshe who was the Provincial Commissar. He was later promoted to the High Command in 1978 to the post of ZANLA Deputy Political Commissar as

Josiah Tungamirai Air Chief Marshal Josiah Tungamirai (8 October 1948

Career in the Zimbabwe military

In 1981 he was attested to the newly formed

Zimbabwe National Army The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) is the primary branch of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces responsible for land-oriented military operations. It is the largest service branch under the Zimbabwean Joint Operations Command (JOC). The modern army has ...

as a

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

commanding First Brigade in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

. He was later promoted to the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and reverted to his original name of Constantine Chiwenga. In the early 1980s after failing basic Officers course at the Zimbabwe Staff College he bribed a junior officer to give him answers for practical Intermediate Staff Course. It is alleged that he accepted a green coded paper with suggested solutions which are available only after the exam. Chiwenga was expelled from the course after refusing to name the junior officer who had given him the paper. He then went on to shoot himself through the right shoulder in an attempt to end his life and was admitted at

Parirenyatwa Hospital Parirenyatwa General Hospital a hospital in Harare and is the largest medical centre in Zimbabwe. The hospital was formerly known as the Andrew Fleming Hospital and was named after the principal medical officer to the British South Africa Compan ...

in Harare. On the formation of Zimbabwe Defence forces (ZDF) in 1994 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and was appointed commander of the

(ZNA). Upon the retirement of General

Vitalis Zvinavashe Vitalis Musungwa Gava Zvinavashe (27 September 1943 – 10 March 2009) was a Zimbabwean general officer, politician and the first commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces "ZDF". Zvinavashe had modest academic credentials but was renowned among Zi ...

in 2004, he was promoted to the rank of Commander of the

Zimbabwe Defence Forces The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) are composed of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ). As a landlocked country, Zimbabwe has no navy. The most senior commander of the ZDF is General Philip Valerio Sibanda. At t ...

. He is the chairman of the Joint Operations Command, which comprises the commanders of ZNA, Prison Services,

Central Intelligence Organisation The Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is the national intelligence agency of Zimbabwe. It was conceived as the external intelligence-gathering arm of the British South Africa Police Special Branch in the early 1960s, under the Southern Rh ...

Zimbabwe Republic Police The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is the national police force of Zimbabwe, having succeeded the British South Africa Police on 1 August 1980. History The predecessor of the Zimbabwe Republic Police was the British South Africa Police of Rhode ...

and the Air Force of Zimbabwe. He participated actively during the Zimbabwe land reform programme, and is a beneficiary of the land seizures with a thriving farm near Harare. Since 2003, he and his wife are on the sanction list for those Zimbabwean officials not allowed to enter

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and the United States (his wife was removed from the SDN list in 2016). Zimbabwe's government announced on 18 December 2017 that Chiwenga was set to retire pending redeployment. He retired from the army on 19 December. On 28 December 2017 Constantino Chiwenga was sworn in as co-vice president of the Republic of Zimbabwe, serving together with former Security minister Kembo Mohadi.

2017 coup d' état in Zimbabwe

The political crisis in Zimbabwe came to a head on 6 November 2017, when Vice President

was dismissed by President

. Mnangagwa fled the country two days later, citing "incessant threats" against his family. Meanwhile, Chiwenga was on an official visit to China, where he learned that Mugabe had ordered his arrest upon his return to Zimbabwe. However, soldiers loyal to Chiwenga, disguised as baggage handlers, overpowered the police at the airport and cleared the way for his arrival on 12 November 2017. On 13 November 2017, Chiwenga released a press statement chastising those responsible for the dismissals of government officials in the ruling ZANU-PF party. He warned that the armed forces would be forced to intervene should the "purging" not stop. In response, ZANU-PF's spokesperson Simon Khaya-Moyo released a press statement accusing Chiwenga of "treasonable conduct". On 14 November it was reported that soldiers and armoured military vehicles were seen headed towards the capital, Harare. Several roads were later blocked in the city including the one leading to President

's private residence, as well as one leading to the ZANU-PF aligned national broadcaster,

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is the state-owned broadcaster in Zimbabwe. It was established as the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), taking its current name in 1980. Like the RBC before it, the ZBC has been accused of bein ...

(ZBC). In the early hours of the next day the military spokesperson, the late Major General

Sibusiso Moyo Sibusiso Busi Moyo (SB Moyo) (196020 January 2021) was a Zimbabwean politician and army Lieutenant general. He was noted for announcing the ousting of Robert Mugabe on national television during the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état. He went on to ...

, appeared on ZBC Television announcing that the military had not taken over the country and that the president and his family were safe. He also announced that the armed forces would be "targeting criminals around him ugabewho are committing crimes... that are causing social and economic suffering in the country". It was later reported that several ZANU-PF politicians and government ministers were detained or arrested, including the finance minister,

Ignatius Chombo Ignatius Morgen Chiminya Chombo (born 1 August 1952) is a Zimbabwean politician who was Finance Minister of Zimbabwe in 2017. Previously he has served in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe as Minister of Home Affairs from 2015 to 2017, Minister of Local G ...

Alleged Chinese involvement

Days before the coup, Chiwenga visited China to meet senior Chinese military leaders, including Generals

Chang Wanquan Chang Wanquan (; born January 1949) is the former Minister of Defense and State Councilor of the People's Republic of China and a general in the People's Liberation Army. He has been a member of the Central Military Commission of the People's Re ...

and

Li Zuocheng Li Zuocheng (; born October 1953) is a general of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China, currently serving as the chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission. Between 2015 and 2017, he served as the inaugural Com ...

. Chiwenga's visit to China has come under scrutiny, with speculation that he had sought Beijing's tacit approval for a possible move against Mugabe. However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that his visit was a "normal military exchange." The Chinese embassy in South Africa called the reports of Chinese involvement "self-contradictory, full of logical fallacies, and filled with evil intentions."

Political career

The Presidential Press Secretary issued a statement on 23 December stating that President

had appointed Chiwenga along with the then state-security minister Kembo Mohadi, as the Vice-Presidents of the ruling ZANU-PF party. Chiwenga and Mohadi were confirmed as the state Vice-Presidents on 27 December, with their swearing-in ceremony scheduled on the next day. He was appointed as the Vice President of Zimbabwe on 28 December along with Mohadi, who was appointed as the Second Vice-President. He was appointed as the Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs on the next day. Chiwenga was appointed Minister of Health and Child Care in August 2020. He succeeded Obadiah Moyo who was sacked a month earlier over corruption in awarding coronavirus testing contracts. Member of Parliament

Tendai Biti Tendai Laxton Biti (born 6 August 1966) is a Zimbabwean politician who served as Finance Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He is the current Member of Parliament for Harare East Constituency and the second Vice President of Citizens Coa ...

said the appointment violates the constitution, which says the Vice President is not allowed to hold any other public office. Chiwenga inherited a corruption-ridden department with a disorganized response to the covid-19 pandemic. In January 2021, he presided at the burial service for three "heroes of the liberation struggle", Foreign Affairs Minister Lieutenant General (Retired) Dr.

, Transport Minister Joel Biggie Matiza and former prisons chief Major-General (Retired) Paradzai Zimondi, all of whom had died from covid-19. Although Chiwenga called for unity in fighting the virus, he had yet to disclose a plan for vaccination, nor to identify the funds for paying for it.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiwenga, Constantino Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army personnel Zimbabwean generals Living people 1956 births People from Wedza District Defence Ministers of Zimbabwe Health Ministers of Zimbabwe Vice-presidents of Zimbabwe