CITIZENS Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa yesterday declared that he will rule the country after elections expected next year.
Addressing scores of mourners at the burial of the late
constitutional law expert and academic Alex Magaisa in Mangisi Village,
Chikomba district in Wedza, Mashonaland East province, Chamisa (44) said it was
high time Zanu PF leader, President Emmerson Mnangagwa prepared for his
retirement.
Mnangagwa (79) has already been endorsed by his party as
the presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
He came into power on the back of a November 2017 coup
which toppled late former President Robert Mugabe.
“I am going to lead, no doubt about that. I feel it, the
heavens have endorsed me. Even
endorsed me. Even my brother Mnangagwa is feeling the heat.
We are not going to let go of our victory this time,” Chamisa declared.
“My brother Mnangagwa will be on pension in Kwekwe, while
we will be leading this country to glory. Even (Vice-President) Constantino
Chiwenga, he will be in his rural home of Wedza enjoying pension benefits. An
old man cannot till the land, while a young a man is there,” he added.
Zanu PF director for information Tafadzwa Mugwadi yesterday
scoffed at Chamisa’s utterances, saying:
“The boy is over-excited for nothing.”
Chamisa will for the second time be contesting against
Mnangagwa for the Presidency next year.
In 2018, Chamisa, who was then the MDC Alliance leader,
narrowly lost to Mnangagwa after both candidates amassed more than two million
votes each.
The opposition leader accused Mnangagwa of rigging the
elections through the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and State security
apparatus.
Chamisa also told mourners that Zimbabwe’s economy has been
completely destroyed by people who claim to be educated, including Finance
minister Mthuli Ncube.
In his eulogy, Chamisa described Magaisa, who died of a
heart ailment on June 6 in the United Kingdom at the age of 46, as a true
academic.
“Magaisa was a true academic; his writings were for the
good of the people. This country has been destroyed by people who claim to be
educated,” the CCC leader said.
“I was listening to (Mthuli) Ncube recently as he said this
and that, but he has failed. He was roaming around, no direction in his speech,
nothing new. Zimbabweans are suffering, they need a better life.”
Chamisa pleaded for peace during the forthcoming 2023
polls, saying: “I am here to represent Zimbabwe, I and Mnangagwa are one. There
is, therefore, no need for us to fight over our political differences because
we are one people.”
Chikomba district, where Magaisa was buried, has over the
years experienced serious political violence which claimed the lives of a
number of opposition activists.
Chamisa bemoaned political persecution in the country and
pleaded to Mnangagwa to end the heavy-handedness on political dissent,
including arrests of CCC MPs Job Sikhala (Zengeza West) and Godfrey Sithole
(Chitungwiza North).
“We all know that Sikhala is in prison for challenging bad
governance and speaking the truth. We do not want that,” he added.
The late Kent University law lecturer, Magaisa was well
known for his incisive legal and constitutional analysis published in his blog,
the Big Saturday Read.
His burial yesterday was attended by several high-profile
people from all walks of life, which included top lawyers, civic society
organisation (CSOs) leaders, academics and others who braved the chilly weather
to say goodbye to their colleague.
When he died early this month, CSOs declared him the
people’s hero. Newsday
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