Harare came to a standstill in recent days as supporters of the ruling Zanu (PF) took to the streets to pledge solidarity with the under-fire president.
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The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association issued a strongly-worded statement in Harare, saying it would no longer support Mugabe in elections.
Spokesperson of the MDC-T spokesman, Luke Tamborinyoka, said while the party applauded ruling party supporters for exercising their constitutional right to march. Grace Mugabe, the first lady, and her gang of loyalists commonly refereed to as Generation 40, are top of the familiar list of demands, with the veterans once again demanding that they be censored, and stripped of all power within Zanu PF.
Thursday’s announcement “delegitimizes Mugabe in a big way, not least because he is always quick to flaunt his war credentials and revels in his title as patron of the war veterans association”, said political analyst Gabriel Shumba, chairman of the South Africa-based Zimbabwe Exiles Forum. “I don’t know which ministers we have not talked to about the current problems affecting our country, we now demand audience with the man at the top himself”, he said.
Earlier this month, many offices, shops and some government department were closed for a one-day national strike against the country’s worsening economic crisis.
Earlier this week, the world’s oldest head of state responded to the recent anti-government protests, telling critics to leave Zimbabwe if they are unhappy with conditions at home.
“‘This country can only go forward if Mugabe steps aside because his management of the economy has been a disaster” war veterans national political commissar, Francis Nhando is said to have told the meeting.
Political infighting has been exacerbated by an economic crisis, widely blamed on mismanagement and, more recently, the effects of a region-wide drought. The guerrilla war that led to independence forged close ties among the fighters.
Mawarire has used #ThisFlag on social media to call for peaceful protests against the government, and has drawn the wrath of Mugabe, who accused Mawarire of being funded by foreign countries and of not being a “true preacher of the Bible”.
Mawarire was arrested on charges of treason but the case was thrown out last week in a Zimbabwean court. Some veterans have backed the candidacy of a former vice president, Joice Mujuru.
Other government supporters also praised Mugabe’s 36-year rule.
The clear indication of Zanu PF’s intention to smash all opposition to its much-criticised rule comes as the government faces another potentially debilitating showdown with civil servants, whose July pay has been delayed for the second month running.
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“Regrettably, the general citizenry has previously been subjected to this inhuman and degrading treatment without a word of disapproval from us”, the veterans’ statement said of the incident.
