Zimbabwe’s vice president, Constantino Chiwenga, has reportedly taken a swipe at former president Robert Mugabe, describing him as the biblical Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt but failed to lead them to the “land of milk and honey”.

According to NewsDay, Chiwenga said this while speaking during a mini rally at President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Pricabe Farm in Sherwood Block, Kwekwe.

Chiwenga compared Mnangagwa to Joshua – another biblical figure who continued in Moses’ place, to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land, the report said.

“President Mnangagwa was anointed by God himself to lead this nation. Together with his wife (Auxilia), they were put here so that they lead the sheep of God. Moses was delinquent. He took the people out of Egypt, but along the way, he broke the laws and it took Joshua to deliver the children to the land of milk and honey. As you go to vote in the coming elections, I want you to know who your Joshua is,” Chiwenga was quoted as saying.

Chiwenga was the southern African country’s military chief when it orchestrated the brief takeover that led to Mugabe’s ouster last November.

Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years, stepped down from power following a military intervention that targeted “criminals around him” last year.

The nonagenarian’s authoritarian reign left the southern African country in dire economic decline, triggering mass emigration and widespread collapse of public services, according to AFP.