MDC ALLIANCE president Nelson Chamisa yesterday
said President Emmerson Mnangagwa was now ripe for retirement as he was no
longer capable for re-energising Zimbabwe to rebuild its economy.
Addressing an estimated 7 000 supporters at
Dulivhadzimo Stadium in Beitbridge, Chamisa said Mnangagwa allowed his
predecessor, Robert Mugabe, to “steal” into the time he should have been in
power.
“He allowed Mugabe to be in power for too long,
stealing into his time. Now Mnangagwa wants to steal into our time, but we will
not give him a chance,” he said.
“What legacy is being restored by Mnangagwa? A
legacy of poverty? They should go to a retirement home and not say they can
have anything new at 75. They should retire.”
He said it was sad to come to a dead Beitbridge
to see closed hotels, unemployed youths and a hospital with no drugs.
Chamisa, who was on a whirlwind tour of
Matabeleland South, said his party would finalise the topical Gukurahundi issue
because his hands were clean.
“It needs someone with clean hands,” he said.
“Some people’s hands are bloody. I am coming from Bhalagwe where I had a rally.
“People there were killed for their political
beliefs and they are angry. We have to appease them and only a young clean man
like me can do that.”
Bhalagwe is the site of mass graves of part of
the 20 000 victims of the 1983 to 1986 Gukurahundi killings that Mugabe refused
to apologise for.
Chamisa said clergymen, chiefs and traditional
leaders should spearhead the healing process from Gukurahundi in which families
that lost their loved ones should be compensated.
He said if elected into power, he would also
guarantee that the old are pensioned and given grants just like in other
countries in the region.
His government, Chamisa said, would restore
culture and give due respect to traditional leaders who are custodians of the
same.
On Beitbridge, Chamisa said his party would
establish a home affairs office to issue passports through devolution of power.
“We will improve roads. Many people have died
on the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu road.
“We will put spaghetti roads here in
Beitbridge,” he said to wild cheers.
“We have delays at Beitbridge, we have a closed
border yet someone says Zimbabwe is open for business. How is it open with a
closed border post?”
Chamisa said his government would in September
this year ensure jobs are created by seeking assistance from the outside world.
He said he would ask countries owed by Zimbabwe
to write off the debts which did not benefit anyone as the money was looted.
Chamisa asked Beitbridge residents to go and
vote in their thousands to remove Mnangagwa whom he said was out of touch with
modern problems.
Chamisa, who was treated to a full Venda
cultural reception, was accompanied by his MDC Alliance partners Welshman Ncube
and Kucaca Phulu, among others. Standard
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