Source: ‘Mugabe afraid of being prosecuted’ – DailyNews Live
Jeffrey Muvundusi 19 March 2017
HARARE – Former Home Affairs minister and leader of Zapu, Dumiso Dabengwa,
says President Robert Mugabe does not want to retire because he fears
possible prosecution for the country’s dark past which is blamed on him
and Zanu PF.
Speaking to the Daily News On Sunday in an exclusive interview yesterday,
the revered and softly-spoken liberation struggle stalwart said as a
result, Mugabe was probably planning to create a dynastic rule to protect
himself from all the acts of human rights violations in the country,
including the Gukurahundi massacres of the early 1980s.
“It is unfortunate that the old man lost a glorious time to retire and
take a good rest before his end. He is scared of retiring because of the
history of human rights violations stretching from the Gukurahundi
genocide to Murambatsvina, right up to the total economic destruction.
“So now he seeks to establish a Mugabe dynasty to protect him, his legacy
and his family from the law should change take place while he is still
alive.
“Resistance to the dynasty from within Zanu PF and the greater Zimbabwe
society now makes it impossible for him to retire,” Dabengwa said.
“Today, Mugabe is at the forefront inciting Africa to pull out of the ICC
(International Criminal Court). He is doing this for his own personal
reasons, not for the good of a continent that has been at the mercy of
ruthless dictators such as him.
“His fear is to face justice for his dark human rights violations in the
event he loses power, which is inevitable. Such are the fears of a
dictator whose hands drip of the blood of innocent Zimbabweans from all
facets of life,” Dabengwa charged further.
Analysts have previously said Mugabe’s failure to resolve Zanu PF’s
succession riddle is fuelling the infighting which is devouring the
troubled former liberation movement.
The party’s ugly tribal, factional and succession wars have got worse over
the past weeks, with Zanu PF split between two bitterly opposed groups –
Team Lacoste, which is rallying behind Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s
mooted presidential aspirations, and the Generation 40 (G40) camp which is
rabidly opposed to the Midlands godfather succeeding Mugabe.
The two factions have escalated their fights ever since Mugabe gave his
traditional birthday interview to the ZBC, on the eve of his 93rd birthday
last month, in which he rubbished all his lieutenants’ leadership
credentials and their chances of succeeding him.
He also said he would soldier on in power – notwithstanding his advanced
age and declining health – and would only step down if Zanu PF asked him
to do so.
“The call to step down must come from my party, my party at congress, my
party at central committee … I will step down.
“But then what do you see? It’s the opposite. They want me to stand for
elections. They want me to stand for elections everywhere in the party.
“Of course, if I feel that I can’t do it anymore, I will say so to my
party so that they relieve me. But for now I think I can’t say so … The
majority of the people feel that there is no replacement, a successor who
to them is acceptable, as acceptable as I am,” Mugabe said.
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