As one of the highest flyers in Zimbabwe’s ruling regime, Philip Chiyangwa began most mornings by studying the display on his computerised wardrobe before choosing which of his 300 suits to wear.
The MP then turned his attention to an equally lavish array of shoes, shirts and ties.
Over a period of 10 years, Mr Chiyangwa became one of the wealthiest men in Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF clique, benefiting from deals that saw him take over several major corporations.
He had all the trappings of wealth: a top-of-the-range Mercedes, a large house with a helicopter pad in Harare’s exclusive Borrowdale suburb.
Now, it seems, he has lost it all. In a spectacular fall from grace, Chiyangwa, who is related to President Mugabe, is locked up in a jail cell on charges of espionage.
He is one of several leading Zanu-PF members caught up in a party purge by Mugabe.
Flamboyant and outgoing, Chiyangwa was popular with journalists as a source of sharp quotes. There was an unsavoury side, however, to Zanu-PF’s most flashy dresser. After he became MP for the north-western town of Chinhoyi he enforced his rule through a group of thugs, known as the ”Top Six”.
His mistake, it seems, was to challenge Mugabe’s choice of vice-presidents and to ally himself with the parliamentary speaker, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was Mugabe’s heir apparent until recently.
Chiyangwa was picked up by security agents as he left parliament on December 15. He was held incommunicado for nearly two weeks. When he finally appeared in court, his lawyer complained that Chiyangwa had been treated brutally.
Five others face espionage charges, including Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Mozambique and a bank director.
Several others who challenged Mugabe’s vice-presidential selection have been punished by being rejected as Zanu-PF candidates in the March parliamentary elections.
The chief casualty is the information minister, Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe’s leading spin doctor and architect of Zimbabwe’s harsh anti-press law.
Patrick Chinamasa, the justice minister, designer of repressive security legislation, and Joseph Chinotimba, who led invasions of white-owned farms, are among the others sidelined.
Mugabe (81) now has two vice-presidents, Joseph Msika and Joyce Mujuru. Both appear to have been selected because they are unlikely to challenge him.
”Mugabe has shown that he will deal ruthlessly with anyone who challenges his continued rule,” said Davison Maruziva, editor of The Standard newspaper.
– Guardian Unlimited Â