Gumbo calls Mnangagwa a terror monger

Former Zanu (PF) information secretary, Rugare Gumbo, has described Emmerson Mnangagwa as a terror monger.

Mnangagwa, one of the most feared politicians in Zanu (PF), is seen as the architect behind the ouster of Gumbo and his allies linked to former VP Joice Mujuru in December last year towards the ruling party’s congress.

Gumbo was one of the most senior members of the then Zanu during the anti-colonial war that ended in late 1979.

In an interview with the US based exiled radio, Studio 7 (VOA), Gumbo described the man President Robert Mugabe made his immediate deputy at the 2014 congress as corrupt and a terror monger.

“Mnangagwa! I have said time and again. As far as I am concerned I have nothing personal against Mnangagwa as Mnangagwa. But I do not agree with his style of operation and he knows it himself, we do not want people who tend to use military tactics, people who threaten people and so on. I do not believe in that, I believe in democracy.

“I believe in discussing issues. I want to make sure that matters that affect the party and the people should be dealt with by the people. We have to commit our people to proper ways of doing business in the party. People must be given freedom to vote for whoever they like, they must also compete for whatever position and these are things Mnangagwa doesn’t like,” said Gumbo.

His statements are seen as implying that Mnangagwa has been manipulating internal and national elections.

He headed Mugabe’s election campaigns in 2008 and 2013.

In 2008, scores of people were killed in a military campaign in the run-up to a run-off in which Mugabe stood alone after Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC pulled out citing widespread political violence.

Tsvangirai had won the first round of elections in March of the same year.

While there was no widespread violence in 2013, the opposition still accuses Zanu (PF) of massive electoral fraud that gave the party a landslide victory that shocked even members of the party.

Gumbo comes from the Midlands, the same province as Mnangagwa, but the two have not seen eye to eye for a long time.

“We know it from experience, because we come from the Midlands. We know what he has done. He buys people, organizes threats and so on and we can’t operate like that. I have nothing against him. He was appointed Vice President but we do not agree with that constitution which appointed him to be Vice President and we will continue to oppose as we are opposing right now,” said Gumbo.

Mnangagwa was in charge of national security from the early years of independence attained in 1980 and has been accused of being one of the masterminds of Gukurahundi, a genocide that claimed more than 20,000 innocent lives, according to a report by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP).

The crack campaign in southern Zimbabwe was carried out purportedly to flush out dissidents who the government led by Mugabe claimed were organising an insurgency. The Zimbabwean