President Emmerson Mnangagwa
…rolls out military tanks to squash protests
Upenyu Chaota
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, which claims to have ushered in a new dispensation has been stretched to its limits and has in turn showed its true colours when it unleashed the military on unarmed protesting citizens in Harare.
The chaos that rocked the capital city reportedly claimed the lives of three people.
In an interview with the BBC in June, Mnangagwa claimed that he was as soft as wool but some people now say the events of Wednesday have shown that he was indeed a ruthless crocodile.
People took to the streets of Harare protesting the delayed announcement of the election results accusing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) of trying to rig the election.
Analyst Raymond Majongwe took to Twitter to say the so-called new dispensation was actually no different from the old.
“The honeymoon is over, the fake democratic dispensation is over,” tweeted Majongwe.
MDC Alliance principal Tendai Biti lambasted the Mnangagwa administration for unleashing the army to kill innocent civilians.
“The #MDC Alliance is a peaceful and constitutional body. For years we have fought oppression through peaceful and constitutional means. We condemn all forms of violence and use of army against and unarmed civilian population.
“We condemn the murders of compatriots. We call for restraint,” tweeted Biti.
National Patriotic Front (NPF) spokesperson Jealous Mawarire slammed Mnangagwa for applying cheap propaganda on the shootings in Harare.
“ED bizarrely holds MDC Alliance leadership (responsible) for the loss of lives after the soldiers fired live ammunition at protesters even when his police is still ‘investigating’ what really happened. Does he mean the MDC leadership deployed the army? Very pathetic propaganda bordering on Ediocy,” tweeted Mawarire.
Edmund Kudzayi said that the events of 2008 were repeating themselves.
“This is a repeat of 2008 where Zanu PF MPs won but Mugabe lost to bhora musango. The V11s are being urgently collated and show that Chamisa has defeated Emmerson Mnangagwa. Zec is trying to cook an ED victory by hiding him behind Zanu PF MPs.
“If Emmerson Mnangagwa had won the election, he would have announced the result a long time ago. As the EU observer mission noted, the presidential vote was counted first and there is no credible reason why those results have not been announced,” tweeted Kudzayi.
President Mnangagwa also took to Twitter to express his condolences to the families of the deceased and said an independent investigation will be launched to bring those responsible to justice.
“I wish to extend my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of yesterday’s violence. All human life is sacred, and their deaths are a tragedy, irrespective of the circumstances. I would also like to wish a speedy recovery to all those injured in yesterday’s events.
“We have been in communication with Nelson Chamisa to discuss how to immediately diffuse the situation, and we must maintain this dialogue in order to protect the peace we hold dear.
“Together, we must lead by example and show all Zimbabweans that peace is paramount. This land is home to all of us, and we will sink or swim together,” tweeted Mnangagwa.
Zanu PF aligned Nick Mangwana blames the opposition of trying to sacrifice its supports for their personal gain.
“I am sorry for the spilt blood in Harare. It is unfortunate that some of our politicians have chosen to import the Odinga Book of anarchy into our politics,” said Mangwana.
Masvingo MDC Alliance provincial chairperson James Gumbi said they will not watch as Zanu PF steals their vote and future.
He said as the province, they will soon be doing solidarity marches in the city centre sending a message to Zanu PF that they have had enough.
“We have won this election and we will not watch our victory being stolen. We will show Zanu PF that the people’ will cannot be subverted.
“We will be doing solidarity marches here to show Zanu PF and Zec that we are fed up. At an announced time, we will call on all progressive citizens to stand up and defend their vote. Our people have suffered enough and we say enough is enough,” said Gumbi.
MDC Alliance in Gweru also took to the streets on Wednesday night demanding that Zec chairperson Priscilla Chigumba not manipulate the people’s vote.
They were singing songs with lyrics, “Chigumba haikona kutamba nevote yevakomana. Chigumba ucharohwa chete nevakomana”.top news
