Former president Robert Mugabe yesterday warned his
successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, that power does not last forever as he strongly
condemned the deployment of soldiers to quell the January 14 protests.
Mnangagwa on February 16 boasted that he deployed the army
to deal with violent protesters despite complaints by human rights groups that
soldiers had allegedly killed at least 17 people and raped several women.
Mugabe, who was toppled by the army in 2017, took advantage
of his 95th birthday celebrations held at his Harare mansion to launch a
renewed attack on Mnangagwa, telling him that he was not God.
According to accounts by some of the invited guests,
Mugabe’s speech was emotionally charged, which could be an indication that his
relations with his protégé are strained once again.
Jealousy Mawarire, the spokesperson of the Mugabe-linked
National Patriot Front, first posted about Mugabe’s outbursts on Twitter.
He quoted the former Zanu PF leader saying: “You are at the
top, you want to glorify yourself.
“You are not God. Today you are at the top, tomorrow you
will be at the bottom, know that.
“God has His own way of punishing rogues and cruel people.”
Mugabe then thundered: “I am telling you in your face. I
don’t care what will happen to me.”
He said the army must stop killing people and return to the
barracks.
“People should love their army, they should not fear the
army,” he said.
Several people confirmed that Mugabe made the remarks, but
were unable to give more details as the celebrations were still on by the time
of going to print.
Mugabe fired Mnangagwa as his deputy in November 2017
before the army, led by then commander and now Vice-President Constantino
Chiwenga, moved in to topple him a few days later.
Last year, Mugabe also used his private birthday
celebrations to attack Mnangagwa and on the eve of the July 30 presidential
elections told his supporters not to vote for the Zanu PF leader.
However, the two appeared to have mended their relations
after the elections and Mugabe said he now accepted that Mnangagwa was the new
leader.
Meanwhile, Mnangagwa yesterday condemned Zanu PF supporters
that were terrorising people in Harare South and threatened to descend on them.
Officiating at the burial of former Cabinet minister
Callistus Ndlovu at the National Heroes Acre in Harare, Mnangagwa said action should
be taken against the culprits.
He cited Harare South where his nephew Tongai Mnangagwa is
the MP.
“Let us desist from divisive politics. Such kind of
politics has no place in the new Zimbabwe,” he said.
“We condemn in strongest terms actions by some hooligans
with a hidden agenda who went about attacking people in Harare South while in
Zanu PF regalia and destroyed people’s stores and merchandise, destabilisations
of peace” .
“This is criminal, this will not be tolerated.”
Ndlovu’s burial resembled a military parade as it had more
soldiers than the usual Zanu PF supporters.
Ndlovu (83), also a member of the Zanu PF central
committee, collapsed and died a week ago in South Africa where he was being
treated for pancreatic cancer. Ndlovu is survived by his wife Angeline, five
children and seven grandchildren. Standard
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