PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has emphasised Zanu-PF’s neutrality in the opposition’s internal conflicts and acknowledged the potential advantage it presents for his party, saying the struggles are an opportunity to solidify Zanu-PF’s dominance in Zimbabwe’s democratic landscape.
In an exclusive interview with “Brick by Brick” magazine,
the President admitted to relishing the opposition’s internal strife. For him,
these battles serve a purpose — they weaken the adversary, rendering it
incapable of challenging Zanu-PF.
When asked about the factional wars that have left the
Western-born opposition in disarray, the President’s response was succinct: “I
laugh and enjoy.”
“Look, I am the head of a political party. If my opponents
are fighting, I laugh and enjoy. Why would I bother to say I want a very strong
opposition that can challenge me?
“It’s good to have an opposition. Our laws allow opposition
that is why opposition parties are here. They have their internal conflicts and
internal difficulties. It’s legitimate to them. They must resolve their
problems. They cannot expect Zanu-PF to go and intervene and say, ‘Look, you
are becoming weaker and weaker, and this is not good for us.’ NO! We will not
do that,” said the President.
After losing last year’s harmonised elections to Zanu-PF,
the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) finds itself ensnared in factional wars
marked by recalls from both Parliament and local authorities. These internal
conflicts have not only triggered costly by-elections but have also led to CCC
splintering into four distinct factions. These factions now vie for access to
funds disbursed under the Political Parties (Finance) Act.
In response to wild and baseless assertions by opposition
officials and their supporters regarding infiltration, the President’s solution
is straightforward — remove the infiltrators.
“They should remove those who have infiltrated them
(laughs). That is the only solution. Just remove them,” he said.
Furthermore, President Mnangagwa said that the governing
party, which played a pivotal role in establishing democracy and political
pluralism following a protracted liberation struggle, cannot enact laws that
suppress individuals from expressing
diverse opinions or viewpoints.
“If people don’t understand each other and can’t work
together, they will say so. You can’t put a law that says don’t differ (laughs)”.
On the international stage, the President vehemently
criticised the American government for overlooking the genocidal massacre of
Palestinians in Gaza by Israel. Paradoxically, the same America then proceeded
to lecture Zimbabwe about democracy and human rights, employing a double-edged
approach.
“This is why we have said America applies double standards.
This is a clear example of double standards. There is nothing about human
rights you can speak of here in Zimbabwe, totally.
“We are a free, democratic country. We allow the opposition
and we allow elections. If America wants to know where democracy is practised,
they should come to Harare. They should come to Zimbabwe and see democracy in
practice,” he said.
Zimbabwe, in its bold attempt to rectify colonial land
inequities, faced the imposition of illegal economic sanctions by the Western
world. The punitive embargoes were explicitly wielded as a tool for regime
change.
Recently, the US made partial adjustments to these illegal
sanctions, but President Mnangagwa remains steadfast — such piecemeal changes
are unacceptable. The sanctions must be entirely lifted.
“Well, these sanctions have been placed on us since 2001.
It’s now about 23 years on. These sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe are illegal.
That is the position also of the United Nations Security Council. Now, the
Biden administration proposed to remove some of them and leave some of them on.
“We are saying no. In the first place, they are totally
illegal. They must go in totality. We cannot feel that he is being benevolent
by removing part of the illegality and leaving part of the illegality on us.
The illegality must go in total,” he said.
“These sanctions have been on us for more than 23 years. I
don’t think there is anybody in Zimbabwe who is losing sleep over the
sanctions. We only get reminded of the sanctions when people talk about them.
We don’t feel that we are on sanctions,” said the President.
President Mnangagwa reaffirmed Zimbabwe’s commitment to its
engagement and re-engagement efforts on the international stage.
Simultaneously, the country remains focused on implementing policies that drive
accelerated industrialisation and modernisation, aligning with the ambitious
goals of Vision 2030.
*Chronicle will tomorrow publish another story from the
interview, the President addressing the Gukurahundi issue and exploring avenues
for a lasting solution. Herald
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