Magaisa said that although the top military men largely supported the war veterans, many were at the end of their careers and might find themselves out of “contract” and replaced by younger men, eager for promotion.
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Douglas Mahiya, spokesman for the War Veterans’ Association, was arrested late Wednesday in Harare, according to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) group.
“You can’t maintain a dictatorship by arresting people for speaking their mind”, Rugare Gumbo, a war veteran and former senior government official, told AFP.
Those perceived to be traitors then would be kept in solitary underground bunkers and remained there until independence in 1980, Mugabe said. His future now dangles on President Robert Mugabe’s mercy string after Mugabe conjoined delegates who officially declared that Mnangagwa “is the singular problem and the reason why war veterans have revolted against the President”.
Amnesty International has said it fears for the safety of Pastor Evan Mawarire, who started the #ThisFlag protest movement against the regime of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe.
“We are of the opinion that no election in the current political climate, whether called early or in 2018, can resolve the deep structural deficits in the state; and, in any event, no election without considerable reform of the state and the creation of a level playing field, can possibly lead to a legitimate outcome”, they said.
Opposition to Mugabe’s rule has grown in recent months as the country’s economic troubles mount, while his Zanu-PF party is in turmoil over his succession.
He singled out the French, British and American embassies saying his government was aware of their alleged activities meant to subvert his government.
The war veterans’ hard-hitting communiqué issued last week also accused Mugabe of being the G40 godfather.
“Police have taken in Matemadanda for questioning over the communique and statements made by the war veterans last week and it’s investigations are under way”, police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said Thursday by phone from Harare, the capital.
“I say to you our people, when these other small (opposition) parties demonstrate out of anger, control yourselves in the knowledge that the police belongs to us so we will ask them to throw them in jail so they can also test life in prison”, he added. Responding to questions at the press conference, Kudzai Hove, one of the youths, said Mawarire had a right to live in Zimbabwe peacefully despite having divergent views from those of Mugabe or anyone else.
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“There is one center of power and that is Comrade President Mugabe”.
