Parallel Structures or Parallel Stupidity? Temba Mliswa’s misfired crusade When the lights go out in Parliament, some men reach for a torch. Others, like Temba Mliswa, reach for Twitter. By Reason Wafawarova In the aftermath of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s torch-lit State of the Nation Address, the former Norton MP has found a new villain to blame for Zimbabwe’s darkness — not corruption, not mismanagement, not Wicknell Chivayo’s undelivered solar contracts — but Colonel Miniyothabo Baloyi-Chiwenga, wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga. According to Mliswa, Colonel Baloyi runs a “parallel intelligence structure” within the army’s MID, allegedly serving her husband’s political ambitions rather than the nation’s security. The irony, of course, is breathtaking: a man who has publicly admitted to receiving USD 300 000 to defend Mnangagwa’s term-extension project now lectures us about conflicts of interest. The First Family’s Army, or the Army’s First Family? Mliswa’s argument collapses under the weight of its own hypocrisy. If being related to a political figure compromises one’s service in the military, then perhaps we should start by asking: who is Major Sean Mnangagwa? He is not just an officer in uniform; he is the President’s son — a sitting Head of State who is actively trying to vandalise the Constitution to stay in office beyond 2028. If Colonel Baloyi’s presence in MID constitutes a “parallel structure,” then Major Sean Mnangagwa’s presence in the army is the entire state running parallel to itself. When people see Sean, do they see a soldier, or do they see the President’s son? By Mliswa’s own logic, Sean’s uniform is a national-security risk — a visible fusion of dynasty and defence. Yet, strangely, Mliswa has nothing to say about that. Perhaps the conflict of interest only becomes a problem when it threatens Mnangagwa’s factional comfort zone. The Manufactured Villain: Colonel Baloyi is not some parachuted opportunist; she is a career soldier who joined the army young, served with distinction, and rose through the ranks long before her marriage to Chiwenga. Her qualifications, unlike those of the men accusing her, are earned — not purchased with tenders, patronage, or propaganda. Yet in the fevered imaginations of the Midlands-mafia pseudo-intelligence gang — now moonlighting as Mnangagwa’s rumour suppliers — every woman in uniform married to a powerful man must secretly be the hand behind every flickering lightbulb. When the Mutare Conference suffered a power outage, they said she “switched off the lights.” When Parliament went dark, they said she did it again. Next, they will say she controls the weather, the exchange rate, and the moods of the gods. This is not intelligence. It is witch-doctor politics dressed in camouflage. A Torchlight Coup: What happened during the State of the Nation Address was symbolic, not subversive. The nation’s power literally failed — a visual manifestation of what has been failing for years. But the paranoid cabal around Mnangagwa cannot process coincidence; they can only process conspiracy. It is easier for them to blame Chiwenga’s wife than to ask why Chivayo was paid USD 175 million for a solar project that never powered a single bulb. It is easier to talk of “parallel structures” than to confront the parallel economy of looting and fake tenders that keeps their mansions lit while the country sleeps in darkness. They whisper to Mnangagwa that saboteurs are everywhere — that Colonel Baloyi is plotting coups, that Sapes Trust is hosting conspiracies, that torches in Parliament are enemy signals. And Mnangagwa listens, because paranoia is the only power left to a man who cannot command legitimacy. Mliswa, the Paid Prophet: There was a time when Temba Mliswa was an independent voice — loud, brash, and occasionally useful. Those days are gone. Today, he tweets from self-exile in Lesotho, serving as megaphone for hired paranoia — a man weaponised by the very faction that destroyed him. Leaked audios already suggest he has been paid handsomely to discredit Chiwenga and defend Mnangagwa’s unconstitutional push for a term extension. When he rants about “parallel structures,” he is not speaking truth to power; he is reciting the script of power. He has become the regime’s travelling salesman of fear — selling conspiracy theories to justify the President’s tightening grip on the state. A patriot once, now reduced to a paid prophet of palace gossip. Who Runs the Real Parallel Structure? Let’s be clear: Zimbabwe’s real parallel structures are not in the army; they are in the State House.Zimbabwe Currency Converter They exist in the bought-out opposition, the parliamentary mercenaries paid to vandalise the Constitution, the criminal cartels running “affiliates” in the name of patriotism, and the pseudo-intelligence officers who feed Mnangagwa daily doses of fear. They exist in a President who claims to defend the rule of law while deploying “deeming laws” to destroy it. They exist in a state media that publishes directives instead of news, in courts that prosecute whistle-blowers while protecting looters, and in ministries where tenders are awarded like birthday gifts. Those are the real parallel structures — invisible, unaccountable, and more dangerous than any colonel with a surname that frightens the insecure. Selective Outrage as State Policy: It is telling that the same people who call for Baloyi’s resignation have never demanded accountability for the President’s sons, who not only sit in business deals but also in state-linked enterprises. They have never questioned why Sean Mnangagwa can serve in the army while his father sits on the Defence Council — an arrangement that mocks every definition of impartiality. No, they prefer the easier target: a woman. A professional. A soldier. The kind of person who cannot pay for silence, but must be silenced. Darkness and Distraction: The blackouts that plunged Parliament into darkness were not sabotage; they were the physical expression of our political decay. But instead of repairing the grid, the government repairs the narrative — replacing wires with whispers, engineers with informants, journalists with propagandists. So, when Mnangagwa stood under torchlight reading about “progress,” the gods simply offered Zimbabwe a mirror. And when Mliswa blames Minnie Baloyi for the power cut, he only confirms how fragile the regime has become — so frightened by shadows that it now accuses the darkness itself of plotting treason. The Real Threat: