HARARE – Former President Robert Mugabe says the July 30 elections have cured President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s illegitimacy after he came to power on the back of a military coup last November.
Mnangagwa narrowly beat challenger Nelson Chamisa of the MDC Alliance in a disputed election.
Chamisa maintains the result was a product of falsified figures by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and has refused to concede.
But Mugabe, who congratulated Mnangagwa on his inauguration on August 26, says he is ready to move past the events of his ouster.
He made the comments at a funeral service held at his Blue Roof residence in Harare for his mother-in-law Idah Marufu, who died last week.
“There was an election, Zanu PF was represented by Mnangagwa and Chamisa represented MDC-Alliance. The results came out saying the person who won was Mnangagwa and I said at least we’ve returned to constitutionalism,” said Mugabe.
“This is the new reality, a legal one. The mistakes of last November have been put right by the election.”
Mugabe, again, sounded a warning to Zimbabwe’s new rulers that military interference in politics must never be tolerated.
“We’ve accepted the result and we hope that we’ll continue respecting the will of the people. The gun does not and should not lead politics,” he said.
Zimbabweans were “now duty-bound to rally behind the new government,” he said, but lawful opposition must also be allowed, he counselled – no doubt refering to Zanu PF threats to use their two thirds majority in parliament to raise the minimum age one can run for President from the current 40 to 55, which would disqualify Chamisa, who turned 40 this year.
“We say those who want to contest should be allowed to do so freely, but we say for now the person who won is Mr Mnangagwa,” the former leader said.
He again reiterated that his choice for successor after 37 years in power was Sydney Sekeramayi, whose political career was scuttled by the coup. He again rejected suggestions that his wife was under consideration to succeed him, saying she lacked the political experience for the task.
“Those who staged the coup in November knew Sekeramayi was our choice,” Mugabe insisted.
Grace, who was receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment in Singapore when her mother died, thanked Mnangagwa’s government for chartering a plane to bring her home.
“We used to travel using commercial aircraft during our tenure as the First Family. That has changed,” she said. “President Mnangagwa charters a private jet. It just takes us a phone call. It was a beautiful plane, a brand-new Gulfstream 650 from Qatar.
“If I get rich, I will buy such an aircraft. I’ve never boarded such a plane. The crew told me that I was the first person to board it. It is my dream plane. I felt comforted. Mnangagwa comforted me. If it takes my mother’s death for us to restore our old friendship, then let it be.
“Mnangagwa loves us. He knows we love him too. We pray for him because it is God’s will that he is President of the country. We pray that he be given the wisdom to lead the country.”
