The Movement for Democratic Change today told President Emmerson Mnangagwa that his comments that its party leader Nelson Chamisa is a rebel are unacceptable and can breed aggression and cause a lot of friction in society.
Mnangagwa yesterday said Chamisa was free to move away from progress because Zimbabwe was a democracy. This was not surprising because even in heaven Satan had rebelled against God.
“We will not be swayed by negative forces because even the Lord upstairs was not able to keep his house in order; he had Satan. These things happen,” Mnangagwa said.
The MDC said it did not take the statement by Mnangagwa lightly.
“Mnangagwa must be aware that such remarks can breed aggression and cause a lot of unnecessary friction in the Zimbabwean society, “ MDC spokesman Jacob Mafume said in a statement.
“We have noted with concern a continued pattern of these reckless statements coming from him in succession, a case in point are the remarks he made in Rutenga when he made threats to unleash violence on citizens for the exercise of their rights provided in section 59 of the Constitution.
“In any case, a rebel is one who reneges on his oath of office, fails to uphold the Constitution but instead works on undermining its spirit and letter.
“A rebel is one who fails to protect the citizens but instead unleashes repressive apparatus on them with many losing lives and limb at the hands of the state.”
The main opposition party said Mnangagwa’s statement reflected an excitable character who was happy to have a conversation with external actors and then forgets the importance of domestic relations.
“The illusion around dialogue which excludes the MDC has already proven to be a political fallacy, many are pulling out because they are aware that the approach will not create sufficient consensus,” the MDC said.
“It is therefore premature for Mnangagwa to use extremist metaphors like ‘devil’ simply because the MDC holds different political views from him. How can he dare compare himself to the creator when he has subjected everyone in Zimbabwe to a living hell?”
The MDC said history has shown that these labels can easily incite degeneration and unnecessary loss of life especially coming from the leader of a militant political outfit.
“In Rwanda, reference to one tribe as cockroaches resulted in the deaths of 800 000 people, so such reckless utterances ought to be rejected with the contempt it deserves!” it said.
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