Mugabe rules by fear: PM

Politics
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday said President Robert Mugabe’s rule had been characterised by extreme fear

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday said President Robert Mugabe’s rule had been characterised by extreme fear so much that even the veteran leader was clinging onto power because he feared the unknown.

SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER

Addressing a party rally in Bulawayo, Tsvangirai said the citizenry is full of fear of its leaders and the government, as under Mugabe’s rule, Zimbabweans were not free to criticise him.

“We currently face a State that is full of fear, dictatorship rule, and a State, which caters for the few and not the majority,” he said. “We must change this. There is a lot of fear in the country

and even Mugabe is afraid, that is why he is refusing to leave office.”

The MDC-T leader said Mugabe’s government has a track record of abuse, including the Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s, where an estimated 20 000 people were killed and Operation Murambatsvina, which saw more than 700 000 citizens having their properties destroyed by the government in 2005.

He said these abuses haunted Mugabe, making him leave in fear. “As MDC-T, we want to lead people who will be free to talk, free to advise and criticise us,” Tsvangirai said. “Currently if you say Mugabe is a thief, you will die in prison. We do not want that kind of rule.”

He said the MDC-T will change the partisan nature of traditional leaders, as some of them had openly declared their allegiance to Zanu PF.

Tsvangirai said MDC-T will not allow anyone to privatise Zimbabwe, as everyone was equally important.

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