‘Sleeping Giant or Smear Job?’ – ZBC Airs Chiwenga Dozing During Mnangagwa Speech, Sparks Factional Firestorm

HARARE – The first casualty in ZANU-PF factional wars has long been state media. Whoever controls the airwaves shapes the narrative, and on Sunday night, that weapon seemed aimed squarely at Vice President Constantino Chiwenga. ZBC’s main evening bulletin broadcast a clip showing Chiwenga dozing off – eyes closed, head dipping – during an address by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The clip contrasted sharply with those of other officials including Vice President, Kembo Mohadi who appeared to be wide awake and attentive to Mnangagwa's speech. Chiwenga's footage lingered long enough for viewers to notice, triggering immediate speculation of a deliberate hit job. “What made the video of Chiwenga appear like a deliberate smear was that it was not necessary,” said Trynos Ushe, a Harare resident who watched the news. “This is the state broadcaster. They could have edited it out.” Another Harare resident, who asked not to be named, went further: “It didn’t make sense to show him dozing. This appears to be a ploy to make him appear ‘unpresidential and unfit’ to be the next president.” In ZANU-PF’s succession battles, access to ZBC and the state newspaper stable has always been a proxy for factional power. Control the cameras, control who looks presidential. Control the edit, control who looks weak.That’s why Sunday’s broadcast raised eyebrows. ZBC is notoriously strict about airing moments that compromise the dignity of senior officials. Newsroom sources say editors have been fired for far less – a stray yawn, an unflattering angle, a clip that “embarrasses the presidium.” Yet this time, the clip made it past multiple layers of vetting and onto prime time. The broadcast lands amid escalating tension over Constitution Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3), which would extend term limits and scrap direct presidential elections. Chiwenga has used recent sermons to push back against “clinging to power,” framing himself as a constitutionalist against Mnangagwa’s third-term bid.In that context, showing the VP asleep while Mnangagwa speaks looks less like an editorial oversight and more like factional signaling. Social media lit up within minutes of the bulletin, with Mnangagwa loyalists mocking Chiwenga’s “stamina” and Chiwenga-aligned accounts crying sabotage. Neither ZBC nor the Information Ministry had commented by Monday morning. For a broadcaster that normally sanitizes every frame of the presidium, letting a sleeping VP air unedited is no accident. In ZANU-PF’s shadow war, the cameras just fired the latest shot.