By Staff Reporter
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Nelson Chamisa has claimed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is snubbing efforts aimed at dialogue despite a full-blown economic crisis that many experts say can only be resolved through a political solution.
In an interview with the privately owned Daily News newspaper Chamisa is quoted saying;
“We have sent letters to him (Mnangagwa); we have sent emissaries; I have sent several people to his offices but they have found the doors locked and iron walled, but we will keep knocking because what moves us is the suffering of the people.”
“Zimbabwe is polarised and people are too angry… my plea and request to Mnangagwa is to come down from his high horse. Pride has never been known to be a progressive disposition — people need to be united (and) not put asunder,” the youthful leader told the paper.
“I have listened to the testimonies of villagers, old women who told me about their bitterness, their hunger and anger with the economy and the politics. The national question has to be addressed”.
“There are ways of dialoguing that are genuine… you don’t invite me to a crowd and say that is dialogue. You don’t invite somebody to your rally,” he fumed.
“Many young people have never been employed; many young people do not know a payslip or the meaning of a salary. Many young people are not aware of a higher purchase of lay-by dispensation – they don’t how to purchase things on credit and these are basic things in other countries,” he said.
“These issues need to be addressed. It is not good to be stone-hearted and cruel to the people. Everyone is suffering; civil servants are suffering and we are decimating the honour of professionals and punishing professional and academic excellence.
“Learning and earning qualifications have been emptied of their meaning. I listen to our men and women in uniform, their cries are still the same. In government, many share with me their agonies that should call for sensitivity on the part of the leadership,” Chamisa added.
The opposition leader insists that Mnangagwa rigged his way into office in elections last year and that without legitimacy the country will find it hard to escape the economic and political crisis.
Addressing thousands of supporters that attended Morgan Tsvangirai’s memorial service at Hamunikwa village in Buhera over the weekend, Chamisa claimed that Mnangagwa had promised the former prime minister “certain democratic reforms”, but he was now backtracking.
“Tsvangirai told me that ‘Chamisa, we are now going to help remove the poverty caused by Mugabe, but the assurance I have is that we are going to have a transitional authority’,” Chamisa said.
“I said to him, this was a good thing, but asked him if he was sure about the people he was dealing with and he said ‘let us give them time’. We gave them time and they betrayed my old man.”
“The fact is that Tsvangirai was betrayed on the agenda to make sure this country (has democratic reforms). Had we agreed on a transition mechanism, it would have led us to undisputed elections.
“This is the problem we have in this country, hence I am saying to Mnangagwa, today, we don’t want to remove you violently, but we stated our agenda to go forward. There has to be a political dialogue. Dialogue between Zanu PF and the MDC,” Chamisa said. Nehanda Radio
