Tinotenda Hove- Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe has taken a swipe at Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, warning against what he portrayed as personal political ambitions within ZANU PF during the ruling party’s annual conference in Chinhoyi on Saturday.

Garwe, who also chairs ZANU PF in Mashonaland East Province, appeared to direct his remarks at Chiwenga as he called for loyalty to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and cautioned against behaviour he suggested could undermine the party’s leadership hierarchy.

“We bring resolutions from the grassroots to the national level, not vice,” Garwe said, stressing that the party’s resolutions should emerge from its structures at the grassroots and move upwards to the national leadership.

He went on to deliver a pointed warning that appeared to caution against attempts to challenge Mnangagwa’s position.

“A sun cannot rise when another one is still there,” Garwe declared.

The minister further urged party members to demonstrate loyalty to Mnangagwa, warning that their conduct as followers could determine their future leadership abilities.

“We are all under President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Be a good follower; a bad follower is a bad leader tomorrow,” he said.

Garwe’s remarks came amid heightened political attention surrounding Chiwenga’s address at the conference, where the Vice President raised concerns about lessons from the Robert Mugabe era and warned against repeating past mistakes.

Although Garwe did not explicitly name Chiwenga in the quoted remarks, his comments about personal ambitions, grassroots resolutions and the impossibility of two suns rising at the same time appeared to carry a pointed political message amid growing scrutiny of the relationship between Mnangagwa and his deputy.

The remarks also reinforced the emphasis on loyalty to Mnangagwa at a conference where questions about succession, leadership ambitions and the future direction of ZANU PF have remained politically sensitive.