Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has said that opposition party MDC-T has gone on a crusade accusing his party Zanu-PF of fomenting political violence ahead of harmonised elections slated for this year in a desperate bid to cover up for the defeat the party is likely to suffer at the polls.
He said this in a wide-ranging interview with ZTV at State House on the occasion of his 89th birthday.
The full interview will be aired at 9pm tonight on ZTV.
“You can see the way it is happening now. The others think that purely by demonising us, this will make them win an election or making a forecast that elections would not be free and fair.
“They are building a false picture of violent acts which we do not know anything about . . . anyway, they are sponsored by liars vana (Tony) Blair ndovakavazvara.
So you think you are working together, as honest performers asi vamwe varikutofunga zvavo zvenhema . . . just going around telling lies about Zanu-PF.
“Anyway, we will take care of that, we will go to the people. By now the people know where they are, we spend our time thinking of plans, of how we can improve the performance of yesteryear, how certain deficiencies we are likely to face like shortages of maize can be prevented,” he said.
The President’s remarks follow the death of a Headlands boy, Christpower Maisiri (12), who died in an inferno last Saturday.
Christpower was buried at the family homestead in Headlands yesterday at an emotional funeral attended by MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, secretary-general Mr Tendai Biti, organising secretary Mr Nelson Chamisa and other senior party officials.
Added the President: “Those are the kind of things we are thinking of, asi vamwe varikufunga kuti how can we diminish or tarnish Zanu-PF before the elections and even after the elections. To them Zanu-PF cannot win an election fairly.
“They say the ground was uneven, asi ndekupi kwawakamboona even ground? Kana vanhu havasi even, vamwe havana experience ine vamwe, havana maideas ane vamwe, even pafundo makasiyana, pamaitiro takasiyana, even mapolicies, zvamunofunga imi nezvandinofunga ini takasiyana.
“Iwe unofunga zveparty yako wozoenda kumba kune mukadzi wako vamwe vanofunga ndirikuenda kune upi nhasi ndozonhanira kune upi nhasi, zvino ungavapedza? (You think of your party and go home to your wife, but others debate over which woman to see. But will you finish all the women?)”
On Christpower’s death President Mugabe said police had said they did not suspect any foul play in their preliminary investigations and urged the public to wait for the law enforcement agents to complete their enquiries.
The MDC-T has hijacked the death of Christpower and has since made unsubstantiated claims accusing Zanu-PF supporters of causing the fire that killed the 12-year-old boy.
The party has also gone on a regional tour using the death as a sign of an upsurge in violence and called for Sadc intervention.
Speaking at the burial of Christpower yesterday Mr Biti accused a senior Zanu-PF official in the province and party supporters of causing the death of the boy.
Christpower died in inferno that gutted the hut he was sleeping in and police have since launched investigations into the incident.
Mr Biti claimed MDC-T ministers confronted the senior Zanu-PF official during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and he gave no satisfactory answer over the allegations.
Christpower’s father Shepherd Maisiri is the MDC-T deputy organising secretary for Headlands.
MDC-T leader Mr Tsvangirai also said the named senior Zanu-PF official “must answer for his actions”.
Mr Tsvangirai sounded happy that the boy’s death made international headlines.
“The blood of Christpower is defining an end to the struggle we have waged. Never again should this happen in our land of Zimbabwe. Zanu-PF has got a spirit of shooting itself in the foot. You kill a 12 year-old, it is international news,” he said.
Mr Tsvangirai confirmed sending an envoy into the Sadc region to update Heads of State on the insurgence of political violence in the country.
“I have already sent Minister (James Timba) in the region to tell them that you are the ones who midwived this arrangement. It’s time for you to deliver,” he said.
Mr Tsvangirai said he was happy that SADC and the African Union (AU) were now alive to political development in the country.
“I will do anything in my power to ensure that people of Zimbabwe have free and fair elections. I am not going to be part and parcel to a process that subverts the will of the people,” he said.
He said pictures of a burnt Christpower were circulated in Cabinet on Tuesday and it was agreed that those behind the incidents be arrested.
Mr Tsvangirai said he discussed comprehensively with President Mugabe the need to have peaceful elections during their Monday meeting.
Without elaborating what he meant Mr Tsvangirai said: “When my wife died, I was given a matchbox to burn the country but I refused. The death of Christpower is a game changer.”
MDC-T national organising secretary Mr Nelson Chamisa and the party’s Manicaland provincial chairperson Mr Julius Magaramombe also blamed the death of Christpower on the senior Zanu-PF official
Mr Maisiri, father to the deceased, is closely related to Mr Tsvangirai.
The Manica Post newsmen were harassed by MDC-T thugs who were at the funeral who barred them from covering it although some members of the private press were given transport and access to the funeral.
Meanwhile, forensic scientists and experts have started carrying out an analysis on the evidence they gathered in Headlands to ascertain the cause of fire that killed Christpower.
Following the fire incident police summoned forensic scientists and a team of experts from Harare to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Chief police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said investigations on the case were in progress.
“Police are working tirelessly to ascertain the cause of the fire and once the findings are out we will let you (the public) know,” she said.
James (17), Munashe (15) and Panashe (11) and their sister Tinotenda (9) Maisiri survived the inferno that killed Christpower.
In a statement yesterday the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) said it was saddened by the death of Christpower.
“The JOMIC’s team in Manicaland which includes the police is on the ground to assess the situation.
We, however, want to appeal to all political actors and Zimbabweans to heed the message of peace from the political leadership especially as we head towards the referendum and elections,” said JOMIC.
ZIM Herald
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