Rugare Gumbo
Itai Muzondo
BIKITA – Former Zanu PF spokesperson who has since joined Joyce Mujuru’s Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF); Rugare Gumbo last weekend said the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo warned him not to trust Mugabe but he did not listen.
Speaking during a ZimPF rally held at Gangararwe business centre in Bikita, Gumbo said even regional nationalist leaders like Samora Machel and Julius Nyerere had never genuinely trusted Mugabe.
“The late VP Nkomo visited me when I was imprisoned in Zambia sometime in 1977. He asked me who our leader was and I told him it was Mugabe. He never hid his opinion to me and he told me never to trust that man but I didn’t listen but I defended Mugabe instead.
“It’s not only VP Nkomo who warned people that Mugabe was not a good leader but Machel and Nyerere as well. I then wonder how are all these people supporting and putting trust in Mugabe thinking when the likes of us who have travelled with him all the way have left. Ask yourself where you will end up with this man if you are still blind-folded,” Gumbo said to loud applause.
“I also want to write this down and recall it as history one day. Mugabe and his team will never win any election, no one loves them anymore and this includes the police and soldiers. More so, as long as that old man is ruling don’t expect any change,” he said.
Gumbo also justified Kudakwashe Gopo’s candidature in the upcoming by-election saying his selection was above board.
He dismissed controversies and intra-party disagreements over whether to participate or boycott the election as per the position of the National Electoral Reforms Agenda (Nera) in which ZimPF is a signatory.
“As ZimPF, we formed this party to contest in elections because that’s what politics is all about; contesting, winning and delivering to the people. It is this key objective that saw us fielding Gopo as our candidate here in Bikita.
“Some were against us taking part in this by-election but little did we know they were representatives from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who just wanted to cause confusion. I urge you all to vote for the young man,” Gumbo said.news
