By Victor Fanuel
HARARE — Presidential spokesperson George Charamba has issued a strong rebuttal to former Norton legislator Temba Mliswa’s scathing criticism, declaring that he will not be lectured by what he described as a “talkative nobody” with no moral authority to advise him.
Charamba was responding to Mliswa, a former Zanu PF Central Committee member, who had accused him of deliberately undermining President Emmerson Mnangagwa through what he called a “lackadaisical” defence of the President’s controversial 2030 term-extension ambitions.
“His latest conduct as Presidential Spokesperson, when the President came under siege, has been very telling and speaks of a compromised character,” Mliswa wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“His lackadaisical approach is not just absence of passion and initiative but a wilful removal of those factors to sabotage the President.
One has to learn to serve one master faithfully and not be preoccupied with surviving to serve in every administration that comes in,” said Mliswa.
Mliswa went further, questioning Charamba’s loyalty: “How does one act normal and even peddle the mirage of normalcy in a situation which everyone can see is a President facing internal attacks?
As it is, Professor (Jonathan) Moyo is actually doing a better job from abroad advancing the Presidential cause more effectively.”
Mliswa’s remarks come amid growing tensions within Zanu PF over Mnangagwa’s possible bid to extend his presidency to 2030.
Hostilities and divisions have increased between factions aligned with Mnangagwa and his deputy, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
Chiwenga presented a dossier to the Zanu PF politburo on September 17, 2025, accusing Mnangagwa of presiding over “corruption, capture and betrayal” of the ideals of the 2017 military intervention.
The dossier, confirmed by senior party officials, was later dismissed as “fundamentally flawed” and “treasonous” during a heated politburo session on October 14, 2025, by the party’s legal secretary and justice minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi.
Zanu PF recently concluded its annual conference in Mutare, where delegates adopted the party’s 2024 Resolution Number 1, which seeks to extend Mnangagwa’s term to 2030 — a proposal critics say would amount to an unconstitutional power grab.
Against this backdrop, Charamba fired back at Mliswa, dismissing both his credibility and his understanding of how government operates.
“Vision 2030 is Government Policy of turning Zimbabwe into an upper middle income.
“I work for that Government and submit to that Vision!” Charamba declared.
“None of my business until it becomes a Government policy,” he added.
Charamba also distanced himself from Zanu PF’s controversial Resolution Number 1, describing it as “merely a wish of the Party.”
“Just now it is not; merely a wish of the Party in respect of its leader who hasn’t obliged just yet. If and when he does, I know what to do and what is expected of me in my role.
“That knowledge does not come from some little politician (Mliswa) who was kicked out of the Party for supporting someone else other than the current President,” Charamba said.
He continued, “I hardly have time for a failed opposition figure who seeks to play saviour to my principal or to Zanu PF which he is yet to re-join.”
“I will only take notice of his errant views when he becomes a member of Zanu PF, or an MP after winning a seat in a free and fair electoral contest.
“For now he is a mere talkative nobody who has no lessons for me! You can advise him to go hang on a banana tree if he has any, or runs an orchard,” said Charamba.
In his remarks, Charamba drew a clear line between government policy and party resolutions, asserting that Vision 2030 represents state policy — not “Zanu PF’s wish list” or “Mnangagwa’s personal project.”
