PRESIDENT-ELECT Emmerson Mnangagwa has threatened to jail Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) supporters who attempt to bring chaos into the country.
CCC leader Nelson Chamisa and his party have been disputing the results of the recent election.
Addressing scores of delegates and party supporters at the commissioning of the Sabi Star Lithium Floatation Plant in Buhera, Mnangagwa, who garnered 52,6% of the vote against Chamisa’s 44%, said he would not be deterred by the “noise” from the opposition party members.
“We will not stop our development plans and programmes because of the noise from some little boys. They will continue making noise, but we shall continue to move on,” he said.
Mnangagwa will be inaugurated for a second term on Monday. “But I warn anybody who may want to be nonsensical and bring chaos in this country, we are ready to deal with any chaos. Whoever will preach hate speech shall be responsible for their hate speech. Our prisons are not full. We want peace, we want unity,” Mnangagwa said.
The CCC has accused Zanu PF of rigging the elections and has demanded a rerun, emboldened by observer mission reports that the election fell short of regional and international benchmarks..
The United Nations has since raised concern over the shambolic disputed general elections held last week.
Florencia Soto Niño-Martínez, associate spokesperson for the secretary-general, recently said the UN chief was following developments in Zimbabwe.
“He is concerned about the arrest of observers, reports of voter intimidation and threats of violence, harassment and coercion. The secretary-general calls on political leaders and their supporters to reject all forms of violence, threats of violence, or incitement to violence, and to ensure that human rights and the rule of law are fully respected,” he said.
He added, “The secretary-general calls on political actors to peacefully settle any disputes through established legal and institutional channels and urges the competent authorities to resolve any disputes in a fair, expeditious, and transparent manner to ensure that the results are a true reflection of the will of the people.”
The Southern African Development Community last week said the Zimbabwean elections failed to meet regional and international standards on the holding of free, fair and credible polls.
Responding to Mnangagwa’s warning yesterday, CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said: “We are considering approaching the Constitutional Court in respect of these utterances. As a de facto President, Mr. Mnangagwa is compelled by the constitution to uphold peace, protect the constituency and any failure to do so may warrant an impeachment.
“In addition to the fact that he lost the elections, Mr. Mnangagwa’s utterances show that he is unfit to govern.”
— NewsDay
