Uebert Angel fumes over Zanu PF tag

SPIRIT Embassy leader Uebert Angel has distanced himself from public statements he made at President Robert Mugabe’s 90th birthday celebration in Marondera last month where he declared his allegiance to Zanu PF.

SPIRIT Embassy leader Uebert Angel has distanced himself from public statements he made at President Robert Mugabe’s 90th birthday celebration in Marondera last month where he declared his allegiance to Zanu PF.

STAFF REPORTER

Angel has since filed a complaint at the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) accusing our sister paper NewsDay of misquoting him, although the publication has an audio recording of the statement.

On Monday, VMCZ media complaints committee chairperson retired Justice George Smith wrote to NewsDay editor Nevanji Madanhire to register Angel’s complaint.

Part of the letter reads: “The VMCZ media complaints committee has received a complaint from pastor Uebert Angel over two stories carried by the NewsDay on February 24 and 25 2014 respectively headlined: I am Zanu PF:Uebert Angel declares and Uebert Angel torches storm.

“The complainant says that the news stories are malicious and incorrect,” the complaint says.

“Angel is also aggrieved by the usage of the name Mudzanire that he says has been officially changed to Angel and whose usage he states is illegal, as it is not found on his particulars.”

Part of the audio recording which the NewsDay centred its alleged offensive stories on says: “Critics will be there and stories will be written (that) Angel has been swallowed by Zanu PF as if they know where I was before.”

“I was born to a Zanu PF father and we had a sister who campaigned for MDC, but we never fired her from home,” he said in apparent reference to Mercy Mudzanire-Nongera, who last year contested and lost MDC-T primary elections for Masvingo Central constituency.

He added: “I want to start by what the Bible says. It says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

“I want to encourage the youths to understand that one thing God did and will never do again is to create the earth.

“In other words God has already finished creating land and is creating no more land,” Angel said.

“There is no more land being created and there is an opportunity here that the government under this president has provided to the people.

“As youths, let’s be vigilant and let’s take that advantage and take what belongs to us.

“All we have is Zimbabwe. We are Zimbabweans and Zimbabwean problems can only be solved by Zimbabweans and a problem for an African can only be better solved by an African.”