MDC leader Nelson Chamisa yesterday threw the gauntlet after threatening to force President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his government out of power for abusing the people of Zimbabwe.
While addressing mourners at the funeral of the late Glen View South Member of Parliament Vimbai Tsvangirai, who died of wounds sustained in an accident last month, the young politician accused Mnangagwa of fronting a partisan agenda at a time the country is reeling from an economic turmoil.
He told party supporters that although he was ready to dialogue with Mnangagwa, the President needs to be wary of peaceful demonstrations which are likely topple him from power.
He said the time for the demonstrations is not ripe yet but promised his impatient followers that when the time comes, the change will come.
“I have heard a lot of people saying we are waiting for a signal and I have told them to relax, we have all the time, we don’t want to do something that will not bring results.
“When we start, we will succeed. There will be no sleeping because we want all people to know that change has come, in peace. We want peace in this country, we want peace in this country and we want a negotiated outcome which will allow us to deal with the dispute of the July 30, 2018, elections,” he said.
Chamisa dismissed as absurd, claims that in the event that he takes over power, he will fire security chiefs.
He said the struggle is not with the uniformed forces because they are civil servants mandated to safeguard every Zimbabwean but his “war” is against Mnangagwa.
“We have an army: soldiers, police officers, they are all civil servants. They serve us, Zanu PF and everyone. They are a country’s security force. I have heard some people lying that Chamisa wants to fire them if he takes over,” Chamisa said.
“No, we are not going to do that, we want to remove Mnangagwa and his government, not the civil servants. We want to remove those that use the country, not those used by the politicians,” he said.
Turning to the dialogue, Chamisa said he is ready to sit at the table with Mnangagwa but not for power-sharing but an exchange of ideas and called for an immediate resolution to the political impasse that the country is facing.
He said every country’s governance needs inclusive ideas and Mnangagwa should accept these from the opposition.
“For this country to go forward, we have to resolve the political dispute in this country, around the issue of elections,” Chamisa charged.
“If we don’t resolve that, we will have a merry-go-round, but the country will not move forward because there is no synthesis or national consensus on the way forward. A divided country will not stand.
“And we have said, we are ready to dialogue with you Cde Mnangagwa, not for my purpose, not for power-sharing, but sharing of ideas, an idea whose time has come, and an idea for change,” Chamisa said.
Chamisa has in past snubbed dialoguing with Mnangagwa and other political parties under the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) banner.
Chamisa noted that although the country is endowed with rich minerals, those in power have failed to utilize the resources to transform the lives of the citizens.
“A country is not run by one person, but by many, particularly, when the leader understands more what those who do not support him want; moreover when they are more than those who believe in him.
“But he (Mnangagwa) doesn’t listen. I am talking politics here because Vimbai was a politician. She wanted everyone to have a good life, not what we have, a country with no water. There is no country that should run short of electricity, but what is evidently lacking is the electricity to power their minds. This is what they lack. Why do we have a country so rich in resources and yet so poor in what we have,” he said.
