President Emmerson Mnangagwa has warned the opposition and civil society that his government is prepared to deal with them should they decide to invade the streets to protest against worsening economic situation in the country.
Mnangagwa was speaking soon after a clean up campaign in Southlea Park, Harare where he emphasized the meed for unity and harmony in the country.
“What we want as Zimbabwe is unity and harmony but what we don’t want in Zimbabwe is violence, we don’t want violence which destroys people’s property and leads to the death of people.
“We don’t want violent demonstrations which are similar to what we saw last year (post-election violence) and early this year in January. I’m telling you without hesitation that we don’t want those type of demonstrations. If there are people planning that, we are prepared (to deal with them),” he warned.
This comes amid the wanton arrests of seven civil society leaders who are being charged with subversion charges as they are alleged to have attended a meeting meant to overthrow the Mnangagwa regime organised by the Centre for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) in the Maldives.
However, CANVAS castigated the arrests of the seven saying it’s illegal.
“CANVAS would like to inform Zimbabweans and the international community that the charges against these activists are blatantly false. The charges include: ‘Subversion’, ‘counterintelligence’ and ‘being trained in the use of small arms’,” read the statement.
Mnangagwa, however, urged the nation to be united amid its various challenges.
“We want peace, peace, we want unity, and we want love among our people. We must be united because we are one people, we must face our challenges as people, and we must live a legacy of peace to the coming generations not a heritage of violence. No. No. No,” Mnangagwa said.
On Wednesday, Zimbabwean government and the European Union signed an agreement that will commence a formal dialogue in 17 years to draw a line under Mugabe’s confrontational approach to diplomacy with the West, which Harare hopes would thaw frosty relations and lead to a resumption of direct aid to its battered economy.
Among other things to be discussed is the poor human rights record and the need for critical political and economic reforms and development cooperation by the Mnangagwa administration.
