PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday said he would suffer heart failure if the people of Harare and Bulawayo did not vote for him in Wednesday’s make-or-break elections where he is pitted against his arch-rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC-T.
REPORT BY MOSES MATENGA
Addressing about 25 000 supporters at the 65 000-seater National Sports Stadium in Harare, Mugabe said: “Are we going to vote? Yes, but how are you going to vote? Harare, Harare, Harare, Bulawayo, Bulawayo, our big cities. Have we forgotten 2008?”
“Have we left behind 2008? I will be shocked. I will have heart failure if I hear Harare votes for MDC, a party with councillors who have caused trouble,” Mugabe said.
Mugabe dared Tsvangirai to prematurely announce the election results, saying he would be immediately arrested.
“We have the AU (African Union) chairperson (Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma) in the country, the former wife of (South African President Jacob) Zuma, who is here to observe the process. He (Tsvangirai) attacks her. You want her to say what you told her. What about what she was told by others?
“But what shocked me is that he said he was going to announce the results of the elections knowing that the law does not allow it. He says they can arrest me if they want. You want to announce the results you get from your people. That’s madness. I have never heard anyone in Africa saying that. A whole Prime Minister saying he will break the law. Who gave you the job (to announce the results)?” Mugabe queried.
“There is a law and you can’t go against the law. He who does that will be arrested. I can tell you in advance that if you breach the law and you become a lawbreaker, a lawbreaker is arrested and the police will arrest you.”
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Earlier on, religious leaders sympathetic to the 89-year-old leader had fallen over each other in bootlicking theatrics, describing Mugabe as “President for life” and “God-given”.
But Archbishop Johannes Ndanga of the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe beat them all. He went to the extent of presenting a self-made “Life Presidency Certificate” to Mugabe.
Ndanga claimed Mugabe was ordained as President by the founder of Johane Masowe in 1934 and added that all apostolic sects had deferred all their activities for the month of July to campaign for Zanu PF.
“All apostolic churches that were supposed to have meetings in July, including the Zion Church led by (Nehemiah) Mutendi, had to suspend their activities to enable church leaders to take a new role of being political commissars to ensure a Zanu PF victory,” Ndanga claimed.
Reverend Andrew Wutawunashe, leader of the Family of God Church, said Mugabe was like the biblical Joshua who took the people to the Promised Land and would rule until the fulfilment of a prophecy.
“Though you are old, there is still land to distribute and there is still work to be done,” Wutawunashe told Mugabe.
