PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday renewed his calls for national dialogue after meeting Catholic bishops and other clerics in Harare, as he bids to end the country’s decades-old myriad challenges,” the Daily News reports.
At the same time, Mnangagwa also hailed his party’s engagement with South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) — which recently dispatched a high-powered delegation to Harare for talks aimed at assisting Zimbabwe as its political and economic crises deepen.
All this comes as calls for much-needed national dialogue
have now reached a crescendo, amid the determined efforts by South Africa to
help end Zimbabwe’s recurrent problems.
Addressing the Zanu PF politburo yesterday, Mnangagwa repeated his calls for dialogue among Zimbabweans, to 2engender local peace.
“This morning I was pleased to receive a delegation from
the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations which comprised the leadership of
the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, Catholic bishops, Zimbabwe Council of
Churches and the indigenous churches.
“Dialogue must be encouraged throughout all inceptions of
our society in the spirit of constructive engagement, among others.
“This is the culture of the second republic, of national
building … peace… harmony … unity and love as we develop the Zimbabwe we love,”
Mnangagwa said.
The meeting with clerics, especially the Catholic bishops,
came after they issued sharp criticism of the government’s handling of the
foiled July 31 mass protests.
In particular, the Catholic bishops’ letter in which they said
“the march is not ended”, was not received well by the government — which
issued a strong warning against clerics dabbling in politics.
In an address to the Zanu PF politburo last month,
Mnangagwa said the ruling party had generally always enjoyed cordial relations
with the Church, dating back to the years of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.
“However, it is most unfortunate when men of cloth begin to
use the pulpit to advance a nefarious agenda for detractors of our country.
Those who want to enter the political realm are welcome to do so.
“They must come out and form political parties. As Zanu PF,
we are ready for the 2023 elections. We are a people’s party, a party that
believes in unity, love, peace and in championing development.
“We fought for the empowerment of our people. Zanu PF is a
party that fought for democracy, upholds constitutionalism and the rule of law.
Those that choose otherwise will be exposed and rejected,” Mnangagwa said.
In their stinging letter, the Catholic bishops also accused
the government of carrying out human rights abuses and instilling fear among
the populace.
They said the country was suffering from “a multi-layered crisis” — including economic collapse, deepening poverty, corruption and human rights abuses.
“Fear runs down the spine of many of our people today. The
crackdown on dissent is unprecedented. Is this the Zimbabwe we want? To have a
different opinion does not mean to be an enemy,” they said.
All this came as the government was accused of launching a
brutal crackdown against the organisers of the thwarted July 31 mass protests.
Rights groups later claimed that dozens of opposition
figures and activists had been tortured and assaulted in a retributive exercise
by suspected State security agents.
On its part, the government refuted the allegations —
claiming instead that the opposition is working with foreigners to destabilise
the country.
Yesterday, Mnangagwa heaped praise on the clerics despite
them having been part of various groups which criticised his administration and
also called for him to hold much-needed national talks with the opposition and
other key stakeholders.
During his address to the politburo yesterday, Mnangagwa hailed the ANC for its recent visit.
“The party (Zanu PF) received a delegation from our sister
party, the ANC and as we continue as former liberation movements to show
experiences and strategies in view of the on-going onslaught by our detractors
and neo-colonialist, solidarity and exchanges must be strengthened across all
the leagues of our parties.
“As I explained before, the truth must be told that
presidential envoys must remain presidential envoys from one president to
another.
“Party envoys must remain party envoys from one party to
another. Those who dream otherwise are allowed in democracy to dream,”
Mnangagwa said in a clear dig at the opposition that hopes to meet both
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s envoys and the ANC.
This comes as the ANC this week also praised Zanu PF for allowing it to meet with the opposition and civil society groups in future — a decision which it described as “constructive”.
Ramaphosa, apart from sending the ANC delegation to
Zimbabwe, has also appointed his own special envoys who met Mnangagwa in the
capital last month, as part of South Africa’s push to help its neighbour to
emerge from its long-standing crises.
Earlier this month, Mnangagwa also said the country’s
deepening challenges required unity of purpose among all Zimbabweans to
mitigate them.
Speaking at a meeting of the Political Actors Dialogue
(Polad), he said the door remained open for MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa
and others who had snubbed the platform to join him there and work together to
deal with Zimbabwe’s problems.
“I wish to unequivocally state that there is no crisis in
Zimbabwe as elections were held in July 2018 and a winner was declared in terms
of the country’s Constitution.
“All contestants were invited to join this dialogue in the
national interest. The door is still open for those outside … Let me say the
challenges facing our country call for continued unity of purpose across the
political divide.
“Your continued commitment to the call to serve the country is acknowledged and will surely result in making our country great,” Mnangagwa said, emphasising that all dialogue would be held under the auspices of Polad. Daily News
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