Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba has posted a loaded statement on his twitter handle saying that they know more about Citizens Coalition for Change leader Nelson Chamisa than his two spokesmen, Promise Mkwananzi and Ostallos Siziba.
Charamba was commenting on statements by Mkwananzi and Siziba rubbishing the call by Roman Catholic priest Father Fidelis Mukonori on Chamisa to concede defeat and talk to Mnangagwa so that the country can move forward. He did not elaborate on what little more they knew about Chamisa.
Mukonori was quoted by the State-owned media as saying that it took wisdom and courage for one to accept defeat.
Chamisa was beaten by Mnangagwa in last month’s elections but has rejected the results claiming that he won but was robbed. He is calling for fresh elections and the establishment of a transitional authority to run the country pending the elections.
Mukonori was quoted as saying:”It is essential, the two to sit down and discuss. Discussions are more difficult than toy-toying on the streets and it will get people killed. They are more difficult because they require thinking and it is an exercise which has no text book and thinking requires someone who has to know how to think.”
But what irked Mkwananzi and Siziba was Mukonori’s statement that Mnangagwa won the elections and Chamisa should now seek ways to engage him.
“We need that humility. It is only a lawyer who is called an educated person but there has to be a display to say indeed we are learned and therefore let us sit down and discuss. I believe it is necessary, it is not too late to request the two sides, the winner and loser to say please can you sit down and discuss. There is a need for serious discussion,” Mukopnori said.
Mkwanazi, who is on the run as he is wanted by the police for offences dating back to 2019, rubbished the statement by Mukonori saying he was partisan as he had sided with Mnangagwa in the 2017 “coup” which saw Mnangagwa taking over from former President Robert Mugabe.
“Noting the statement from Father Mukonori, it is essential to put things into perspective before responding to his call. While Father Mukonori, has for years been a respected Father figure of the church in Zimbabwe, his conspicuous role in the events that led to the deposing of President Robert Mugabe through a coup by Mr. Mnangagwa diminished his societal standing and respect he once enjoyed,” Mkwananzi said.
“His skewed statements in today’s Herald Newspaper further affirm the questions which Zimbabweans have about the relationship Father Mukonori has with the Mnangagwa regime. Father Mukonori ought to extricate himself from this partisan position if he is to retain the respect which he commanded over the years.
“At the very least, the electoral sham of August 2023 did not pass the test for an election. In other words, the events of the 23rd & 24th of August 2023 cannot be a basis for Father Mukonori to talk about “winners & losers”. This is the position commonly held by all observer Missions that observed the elections.
“In short, if ever there would be dialogue in Zimbabwe, it would not take place on the basis of a winner and a loser but on the basis of two of Zimbabwe’s political leaders namely President @nelsonchamisa & Mr. @edmnangagwa.
“Their dialogue would need to take place outside the purview of the ill-fated & illegal POLAD Framework-a feeding trough for fringe political “leaders” who only care about their stomachs & the benefits extended to them by Mr. Mnangagwa to undermine the leading party in Zimbabwe: the @CCCZimbabwe.
“Accordingly, a genuine bilateral framework for dialogue will need to be facilitated between the two political leaders. In addition the dialogue must include several other key Stakeholders such as the church, civil society, Business, women, youth, informal traders etc.
“The dialogue must be underwritten by @SADC_News from the outset & be confined to only one objective: To establish a Transitional Authority whose sole mandate would be to deal with all issues that hinder a free & fair election in Zimbabwe such as the disbanding of ZEC, political & media reforms etc & the conduction of a fresh, free & fair election within the shortest practicable time to save Zimbabwe & indeed the region which may suffer the most from the spillover effects of Zimbabwe’s incessant electoral disputes.”
Siziba wrote: “While the overtures of church leaders to try and resolve the political and constitutional crisis which intensified after the shambolic 23 August 2023 polls is welcome, it must be based on correct facts of the matter. The election was a sham because the ZEC violated the Constitution, electoral law, and regional and international guidelines on conducting free, fair, credible, and verifiable polls.”
Siziba was elected to Parliament in the elections and was sworn in, leading some to ask why he took the oath if he believes that the elections were a sham.
Responding to Makwananzi and Siziba, Charamba said the two should respect Father Mukonori as he was a seasoned negotiator dating back to independence.
“Anyone with some modicum of political understanding knows that good politics is founded on basic respect of the Church and its counselling and prophetic role in affairs of our Nation,” he said.
“To have little boys like the fugitive Mkwananzi and Ostallos casting aspersions on a cleric with the standing of Father Fidelis Mukonori, smacks of despicable pretentiousness and downright ignorance of our history and contemporary affairs.
“Just a cursory reading of our Liberation Struggle would have cautioned these two impressionable and excitable youngsters against such gratuitous insults. Father Mukonori’s role in our Liberation Struggle and in key peace initiatives before and after our Independence is a matter of public record. These included missions to Liberation Movements at the height of our Struggle, well before these two youngsters were born.
“It is that historical and historic role which earned him his brokering role during the 2017 Operation. While these two youngsters, incited by their equally youngster leader may be forgiven for not living or reading history, they cannot be excused for miscomprehending times and events they lived through. Or for cheaply abusing them for political expediency.
“However angry Father Mukonori’s advice may make them, Chamisa knows that, as before, he stands to rue his excitable response to poll defeat and, again as before, will spend the coming five long years desperately knocking on many doors for accommodation by the winner, Dr ED Mnangagwa!! We happen to know a little more about him than ever does these two youngsters!!!”
It was not clear who Charamba was referring to when he said “we” happen to know a little more about Chamisa.
There has been whispers that Chamisa entered into a deal with Mnanagwa before the elections and has rejected the results to appease his supporters who genuinely wanted Mnangagwa and his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front out.
Source: InsiderZim
