Mnangagwa accuses Chamisa of striking deal with Mugabe in ‘uninspiring’ Facebook VIDEO

By MacDonald Dzirutwe | Reuters |

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa accused his main rival Nelson Chamisa on Sunday of striking a deal with former leader Robert Mugabe on the eve of an election and cast doubt on Chamisa’s intentions of rebuilding the country.

Mnangagwa, who did not provide any evidence of his accusations, said in a Facebook post that voting for 40-year-old Chamisa was tantamount to bringing back Mugabe in disguise.

He made the comments after Mugabe said he would vote for the opposition in Monday’s election.

The election will see 75-year-old Mnangagwa, a long-time Mugabe ally, face 40-year-old Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who is vying to become Zimbabwe’s youngest head of state.

“The choice is clear, you either vote for Mugabe under the guise of Chamisa or you vote for a new Zimbabwe under my leadership and ZANU-PF,” Mnangagwa said in a video on his official Facebook page.

Polls, which are unreliable, give Mnangagwa, a former intelligence chief and defence minister only a slim lead over Chamisa, making a runoff on September 8 a possibility.

Mugabe, whose 37-year rule came to an end when he was forced to resign in November, told reporters at his mansion in Harare on Sunday that Mnangagwa’s government was unconstitutional and ruled by the gun.

“I hope the choice of voting tomorrow will throw, thrust away the military government and bring us back to constitutionality,” said a frail looking Mugabe, in a rambling off the cuff speech that lasted almost an hour.

“I said I can’t vote for those who have caused me to be in this situation … so there is Chamisa left.”

Mugabe, one of the last “Big Men” of African politics, still looms large over Zimbabwean politics and he may yet influence the first vote without his name on the ballot paper since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980.

Though he became increasingly unpopular with most Zimbabweans as mismanagement and corruption sent the economy into decline, he retains support in his rural heartland where supporters remain bitter about the manner of his removal.

Mnangagwa, known as “the crocodile”, an animal famed in Zimbabwean lore for its stealth and ruthlessness, was removed as vice president by Mugabe last November to make way for his wife, Grace, to seize power, analysts say.

This was too much for army generals who rolled military vehicles through the streets of Harare and kept Mugabe under house arrest until he resigned facing imminent impeachment.

Mnangagwa accuses Chamisa of striking deal with Mugabe in ‘uninspiring’ Facebook VIDEO