News / Local
Mnangagwa exposes Mugabe coup plan linked to Margaret Thatcher
26 May 2013 at 01:48hrs | Views
Last week, The state controlled Sunday Mail revealed for the first time the letter that the former Rhodesian commander, Peter Walls wrote to the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher requesting to stage a coup in Zimbabwe when it became clear that the then Prime Minister-designate Mugabe was heading for a resounding victory in the 1980 elections.
This week, the newspaper also reveals how Ms Thatcher refused to respond directly to the request choosing instead to do so through Sir Duff who was the deputy to Lord Soames.
Part of the telegram that was sent by the then British Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington to the then governor, Lord Soames reads: "The Prime Minister does not intend to reply to Walls' message in writing, but would be grateful if you or Sir A Duff could speak to Walls on the following lines, making clear you are doing so on her personal instructions…
" . . . the Prime Minister does not share his view (Walls) that massive intimidation has frustrated the free choice of the people . . . and there are no grounds which the elections could be declared null and void."
Following this move by Ms Thatcher, general Walls became a frustrated man and after taking too much whisky during a cruise on Lake Kariba a few months later, he bragged during an interview with the BBC that he planned to stage a coup against the new government.
Upon hearing this, the then Minister of Security, Emmerson Mnangagwa invited Peter Alum, the police commissioner to a discussion on the interview.
In an interview last week with The Sunday Mail, Mnangagwa recalled the incident saying: "I called Peter Alum and during our discussion I made it clear to him that what Walls had said during the BBC interview was treasonous and could lead to his arrest. I then said I was going to consult the then Prime Minister Mugabe to map the way forward.
"After the meeting, Alum then sent a warning to Walls indicating that his arrest was imminent. This then triggered a process where a private plane was dispatched to Kariba to fly out Walls to South Africa, marking the start of his long exile until his demise. Of course I never went to consult the then PM about this. All I wanted to do was to scare Walls and I knew that Alum would alert him soon after our discussion. This is how we got rid of Walls from the system. He never returned from South Africa."
After getting rid of Walls, Mnangagwa said they also faced a problem with one of the sections, the all-white Rhodesia Light Infantry (RLI) which refused to integrate with the new army. "The commander of section told the President, then Prime Minister, that the RLI would not integrate. The Prime Minister asked him to bring the command of the RLI who made it clear that they were a proud battalion with a proud tradition that they had built over the years, and which tradition they would not want to see diluted through integration. This section said it would rather disband than integrate.
"The Prime Minister firmly indicated that the new order had no place for an all-white unit lying outside the overall command, in which case he would accept their option to disband and leave the country if they so wished.
"A route was then opened for members of this unit to leave through Beitbridge within a week. They went to SA carrying small arms of their choice," said Minister Mnangagwa.
On the other hand, there was also resistance to integration by an all-white Airforce unit that was under Air Marshal Wessels. Candidates from the Patriotic Front who were seconded for integration were all disqualified through flimsy reasons.
"Even the batch of pilots from ZIPRA that had been trained in the Soviet Union and wanted to join the airforce was also disqualified.
"Realizing that they were running out of reasons for frustrating the integration of blacks in the airforce, Wessels and his unit resorted to blowing up a whole squadron of Hawk jets at Thornhill. Arrests were made to howling protest from Ms Thatcher.
"The Prime Minister then threatened to open all borders for the departure of all whites if it was the British government's view that no offending whites should be arrested in independent Zimbabwe.
"The matter caused a lot of uneasy in Britain until Ms Thatcher and Mugabe met in India on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Summit. Ms Thatcher relented on her position and informed Mugabe that all she meant was that the arrested members should be given fair trial. The two shook hands and the matter was closed. "Later, an all- white bench acquitted these offenders who left the country soon after. The new government then turned to Pakistan for resources to rebuild its Airforce," he said.
This week, the newspaper also reveals how Ms Thatcher refused to respond directly to the request choosing instead to do so through Sir Duff who was the deputy to Lord Soames.
Part of the telegram that was sent by the then British Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington to the then governor, Lord Soames reads: "The Prime Minister does not intend to reply to Walls' message in writing, but would be grateful if you or Sir A Duff could speak to Walls on the following lines, making clear you are doing so on her personal instructions…
" . . . the Prime Minister does not share his view (Walls) that massive intimidation has frustrated the free choice of the people . . . and there are no grounds which the elections could be declared null and void."
Following this move by Ms Thatcher, general Walls became a frustrated man and after taking too much whisky during a cruise on Lake Kariba a few months later, he bragged during an interview with the BBC that he planned to stage a coup against the new government.
Upon hearing this, the then Minister of Security, Emmerson Mnangagwa invited Peter Alum, the police commissioner to a discussion on the interview.
In an interview last week with The Sunday Mail, Mnangagwa recalled the incident saying: "I called Peter Alum and during our discussion I made it clear to him that what Walls had said during the BBC interview was treasonous and could lead to his arrest. I then said I was going to consult the then Prime Minister Mugabe to map the way forward.
"After the meeting, Alum then sent a warning to Walls indicating that his arrest was imminent. This then triggered a process where a private plane was dispatched to Kariba to fly out Walls to South Africa, marking the start of his long exile until his demise. Of course I never went to consult the then PM about this. All I wanted to do was to scare Walls and I knew that Alum would alert him soon after our discussion. This is how we got rid of Walls from the system. He never returned from South Africa."
After getting rid of Walls, Mnangagwa said they also faced a problem with one of the sections, the all-white Rhodesia Light Infantry (RLI) which refused to integrate with the new army. "The commander of section told the President, then Prime Minister, that the RLI would not integrate. The Prime Minister asked him to bring the command of the RLI who made it clear that they were a proud battalion with a proud tradition that they had built over the years, and which tradition they would not want to see diluted through integration. This section said it would rather disband than integrate.
"The Prime Minister firmly indicated that the new order had no place for an all-white unit lying outside the overall command, in which case he would accept their option to disband and leave the country if they so wished.
"A route was then opened for members of this unit to leave through Beitbridge within a week. They went to SA carrying small arms of their choice," said Minister Mnangagwa.
On the other hand, there was also resistance to integration by an all-white Airforce unit that was under Air Marshal Wessels. Candidates from the Patriotic Front who were seconded for integration were all disqualified through flimsy reasons.
"Even the batch of pilots from ZIPRA that had been trained in the Soviet Union and wanted to join the airforce was also disqualified.
"Realizing that they were running out of reasons for frustrating the integration of blacks in the airforce, Wessels and his unit resorted to blowing up a whole squadron of Hawk jets at Thornhill. Arrests were made to howling protest from Ms Thatcher.
"The Prime Minister then threatened to open all borders for the departure of all whites if it was the British government's view that no offending whites should be arrested in independent Zimbabwe.
"The matter caused a lot of uneasy in Britain until Ms Thatcher and Mugabe met in India on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Summit. Ms Thatcher relented on her position and informed Mugabe that all she meant was that the arrested members should be given fair trial. The two shook hands and the matter was closed. "Later, an all- white bench acquitted these offenders who left the country soon after. The new government then turned to Pakistan for resources to rebuild its Airforce," he said.
Source - Zimpapers
