The call by former head of state Robert Mugabe on the incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa to stop unleashing security forces on civilians is plausible, opposition MDC President Nelson Chamisa has said.
This comes in the wake of Mugabe-Mnangagwa fall out with the former calling his successor to order amid gross human rights violations Zimbabwe has been subjected to when the latter took over power since November 2017.
In an interview with France24 last night, Chamisa said Mugabe is the best placed person to rebuke Mnangagwa from committing atrocities as they have been together for a long time.
“I must say that there is no better person who knows Mr. Mnangagwa better than Mr. Mugabe. Mr. Mnangagwa was Mr. Mugabe’s side kick for a long time. They were working together and he was the chief enforcer of Mr. Mugabe’s decisions. So clearly from the possibility of what we have we are seeing that what is obtaining is that Mr. Mnangagwa is just having a confirmation coming from his former master on what his omissions and commissions are.
“And of course is getting instructions from his former leader to say what you are now doing seems to have exceeded even what he used to do when he was head of state. So we are clearly seeing a confirmation of what every citizen is saying, what the international community is saying that clearly once you starts resorting to killing your own citizens that’s crossing the line…”
Mugabe’s condemnation of the recent military killings been received with mixed feelings across Zimbabwe.
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister, Energy Mutodi yesterday said Mugabe’s rants at Mnangagwa were misplaced as his tenure in power was equally marked with bloodshed.
“We had the worst human rights record during his rule,” Mutodi said.
Mutodi’s response did not go well with human rights defenders, lawyers and activists who charged that there was no need to compare on who killed few or more people between Mnangagwa and Mugabe.
