Mugabe under fire over Dzamara rant

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe found himself in deep water yesterday after his spokesperson said that the nonagenarian will not pronounce himself on missing activist Itai Dzamara because the case is “pre-eminently political and thus not worthy of his attention.”

Opposition parties and rights groups called the remarks “crass and insensitive.”

Dzamara has not been seen since he was abducted by five men in the capital, Harare, on March 9. Officials have denied any State agents were involved in his abduction.

Prior to his abduction, Dzamara was a vocal opponent of Mugabe, and staged sit-ins demanding his resignation.

Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba told State media that Dzamara was “never an opponent, let alone an enemy, of the government much as he and his associates, obviously to give profile and consequence to themselves, may have had that as a wish-image” and was not deserving of Mugabe’s attention.

“People go missing here and elsewhere in the world,” he said.

“I dismiss calls for the president to pronounce himself on the matter as pre-eminently political and thus not worthy of his attention.

“In our case, some skip the borders to go to foreign lands, others get caught up in mishaps and still others might just change location and withdraw from contacts. The fact of the missing persons need not indict sitting governments the way it is playing out here.”

Senior researcher on Zimbabwe with Human Rights Watch, Dewa Mavhinga, said Charamba’s  insensitive comments show that there is more to the Dzamara case than meets the eye and also shows the government does not care about its people.

“Mugabe’s took an oath of office as president which obligates him to uphold the Constitution and uphold the rights of all citizens in Zimbabwe including Itai Dzamara,” Mavhinga said.

“This comment goes against the letter and spirit of the Constitution and fundamental values contained therein.”

ZimRights national director Okay Machisa said: “Government must investigate this issue. We have certain people in certain political parties that were born murderers. It is in their DNA, they don’t want to hear different opinions. We know why Dzamara was abducted, we are not going to assume, we know. This is an irresponsible statement.”

MDC spokesman Obert Gutu slammed Charamba’s remarks, calling it “offensive and shocking”.

“George Charamba’s remarks on Itai Dzamara are ridiculous, odious, utterly insensitive, arrogant and repugnant,” Gutu said.

“Those rabid and cruel comments offend public morality and common decency. It doesn’t need rocket science for any one to know that Dzamara was abducted by State security agents.

“Robert Mugabe and the Zanu PF regime that he leads control the State security apparatus in Zimbabwe. They have a constitutional and moral obligation to tell the nation what exactly happened to Itai Dzamara.

“It is shocking that a whole head of State can abdicate one of his core constitutional responsibilities of ensuring that all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation,are safe and protected from any form of harm (including abduction),in their own country.’’

MDC Renewal Team spokesman Jacob Mafume said the president is the chief executive of the government and the buck stops with him.

“The president has obligations under the Constitution and international treaties to ensure that people do not disappear in the country without trace,” Mafume said.

“He is used with just enjoying the privileges of office without wanting to assume responsibilities of the office.

“That is why he is staying so long without wanting to leave because he does not assume responsibility for anything, be it job loses, health sector collapse, the list is endless.” Daily News