REPORTS that President Robert Mugabe poured scorn at the proposed opposition coalition meant to provide a strong challenge to his bid for another term of office next year should not be taken lightly.
Comment: NewsDay Editor
The warning by the 93-year-old Mugabe, who has already been confirmed as Zanu PF candidate for the 2018 election, should jolt the opposition forces to prepare for the worst.
Opposition political parties in particular MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, National People’s Party’s Joice Mujuru, Welshman Ncube’s MDC — these having signed memoranda of understanding to work together at the next election — and others should thank the Zanu PF youth league for organising the youth interface rally in the eastern border town of Mutare, where Mugabe also warned his party’s warring leaders against dividing the youth league.
Instead of ignoring Mugabe’s taunts, opposition leaders should quickly put behind their egos and work together for the sake of the country’s tormented citizens.
Whether Mugabe will need to devise strategies to deal with Mujuru, Tsvangirai or any other opposition party is something else, what stands out is that he is fretting over the possibility of a grand opposition coalition.
Zimbabweans need to remind Mugabe that instead of being derisive, he should look himself in the mirror with shame and remorse for clinging on to power at such an advanced age.
The fact that Zanu PF can front a nonagenarian as its candidate in the election also shows that Mugabe is up to no good for the country. He clearly does not care about the country’s youth — he is trying to woo to vote for his party.
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He will be 94 at the time of the elections, and one will be forgiven to think that maybe he could be hallucinating. How can a nonagenarian win polls in a country with more than 60% youth unless there is some form of rigging?
What Mugabe did not tell his supporters is whether he will indeed contest the elections or he will leave the job to someone else.
We wonder whether Zanu PF supporters care for this country or not. Not that the opposition parties are the real deal, No! Some opposition leaders are no different from Mugabe.
But change is just good for a country. It boggles the mind how Mugabe through his Zanu PF party has shattered the dreams of millions of Zimbabweans, wrecked families as they moved to the Diaspora to try and feed their loved ones and endemic corruption ruined the social fabric of this great country.
It is time to rebuild Zimbabwe from the ashes, and that rebuilding exercise will not happen for as long as Mugabe will remain in charge.
Zimbabweans are confident that anyone else other than Mugabe whether in Zanu PF or the opposition — can do the job — not that they are the best but the country requires a fresh start.
It is not in doubt that Mugabe’s towering shadow has stagnated the country’s economy with devastating effect, and hence, the call for a new era.
We have hope that soon — whether Mugabe likes it or not — the laws of nature will rescue Zimbabwe before Zanu PF or the President realises.
