Mnangagwa sheds crocodile years

Joseph Chirume

Allegations of age cheating are not only confined to the sporting world. 

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is embroiled in a war of words with his exiled erstwhile friend, former Minister of Information and Publicity, Jonathan Moyo.

Mnangagwa has proudly announced today in Harare that he is celebrating his 79th birthday. 

The president is seen in a short video standing in front of soldiers and officials wearing suits. The people are singing the popular “Happy birthday song. How old are you Mr President?”  

Mnangagwa replies with a chuckle, “70 plus 9.” And there is an outburst of laughter from the guests singing that song.

But the self-exiled Jonathan Moyo disputes that and says the president is an age cheat.

Moyo wrote on his Twitter handle, “15 September 1938, 15 September 1942, 15 September 1946.

“Over the years, Mnangagwa himself has used each one of the above as his date of birth, depending on the circumstance before him; only one of them is true; but that’s for another day. Happy Birthday Emmerson.”

Moyo was a minister in Robert Mugabe’s government and was very close to the late president. He headed a faction called Generation 40 that had the blessings of Grace Mugabe and positioned themselves to ascend to the throne after Mugabe left. 

Their plan was aborted after Mnangagwa led a coup in November 2017 resulting in Moyo and his G40 squad fleeing to other countries.

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