Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe holds short shrift for anyone who opposes him and he has vent his wrath on evangelical pastor Evan Mawarire the inspiration of a mass protest movement using social media.
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Mawarire, who rallied followers under his #ThisFlag Twitter campaign, was arrested last week and formally accused of treason but was freed when a court threw out the charges.
The #ThisFlag social media campaign was sparked by Mawarire and has become one of Zimbabwe’s largest anti-government protests in years.
The 92-year-old president was speaking at the burial of Zimbabwe’s first black chief secretary to the Cabinet and president after British colonial rule.
Mugabe has accused Western countries of sponsoring the recent anti-government protests.
Mugabe has warned his country of Mawarire, saying he is a far cry from a “true preacher”.
In the video, Mawarire, a Baptist preacher in Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare, urged his fellow Zimbabweans to speak out against current conditions, and build a more inclusive Zimbabwe that delivers on the flag’s promises.
“I don’t know whether they are serving God. we spell God double G.O.D, they spell God in reverse”, he said to cheers from the crowd. “First Corinthians, what does it say?”
“There is [an] urgent need for national dialogue between the government and different national stakeholders, towards finding a lasting solution, rather than ignore or politicise people’s genuine grievances and label them as opposition, or demonise and harass the church and her leaders”, the statement said.
Ryan Truscott, EWN Zimbabwe Correspondent, says the war veterans have released a hard hitting statement, where they accuse him of “presiding over corruption and mismanagement”, which have led to economic ruin.
“What can you do to us the children of President Mugabe?”
Around a thousand supporters of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe marched to the ruling ZANU-PF party’s headquarters on Wednesday in a show of solidarity following anti-government protests this month. “But at this point I don’t know what else to do”.
“We note, with concern, shock and dismay, the systematic entrenchment of dictatorial tendencies, personified by the president and his cohorts, which have slowly devoured the values of the liberation struggle”, the group said in a statement.
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After almost three decades as president, Mugabe is clinging to power, and his 50-year-old wife Grace, tipped as a possible successor, last month warned that Mugabe would continue to rule the country from beyond the grave. His government, facing severe currency shortages, has restricted cash withdrawals, banned imports of many goods and repeatedly delayed payment of civil servants’ salaries, leading to strikes.
