By Nelson Sibanda
The Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu) has described Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa as a desperate politician, seeking cheap sympathy from the people of Matabeleland whom he ordered butchered under the Gukurahundi massacres of the early 80s.
ZAPU spokesperson Mjobise Noko told The Zimbabwean that by fabricating falsehoods that Dumiso Dabengwa and other party top officials wanted him assassinated in Zambia during the liberation struggle, Mnangagwa wanted to cow people from Matabeleland into sympathising with him.
“He realises that he has no good standing with Zimbabweans, partly as a result of his role in the Gukurahundi massacres. Besides seeking sympathy, he wants to divert people’s attention from bread and butter issues that the Zanu (PF) government has failed to address,” said Noko, noting that the accusations levelled by Mnangagwa against Dabengwa were mainly meant to intimidate Zapu members.
Mnangagwa recently made sensational claims that Zapu officials led by ex-intelligence supreme, Dabengwa resolved to assassinate him in Zambia in 1962 for allegedly insulting the late ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo.
Noko said Mnangagwa’s strategies would not work as ZAPU will not be intimidated. “ZAPU will not be cowed by Mnangagwa’s hollow accusations. If push comes to shovel we will fight for our political space and liberate the people of Zimbabwe from misrule,” he said.
Observers said accusations made by Mnangagwa against Dabengwa might suggest that his hatred of people from Matabeleland was still in his blood and could strike again at some stage. The vice president could not be reached for comment. The Zimbabwean
