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Chiwenga blasts Grace Mugabe led purges, promise a coup
14 Nov 2017 at 05:59hrs | Views
Zimbabwe armed forces commander Constantine Chiwenga called for an end to purges in President Robert Mugabe's ruling party and said the security services would stop those "bent on hijacking the revolution."
Chiwenga, speaking alongside the commanders of the army and airforce, was commenting on the upheaval in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front following Mugabe's dismissal of Emmerson Mnangagwa as vice president a week ago and his subsequent expulsion from the ruling party.
"It is with humility and a heavy heart that we come before you to pronounce the indisputable reality that there is instability in Zanu-PF today and as a result anxiety in the country at large," he said.
Mnangagwa's dismissal marked a dramatic shift in politics in Zimbabwe, where he had been a pillar of a military and security apparatus that helped Mugabe emerge as the nation's leader after independence from the U.K. in 1980. He was Zimbabwe's first national security minister.
Under strong influence from his wife First Lady Grace, Mugabe, 93, has broken with most of his comrades who fought in the liberation war against the white-minority regime of Rhodesia, leaving the so-called Generation 40 faction of younger members of the ruling party championed by his wife who is now in the ascendancy.
"The current purging which is clearly targeting members of the party with liberation backgrounds must stop forthwith," Chiwenga said.
Chiwenga, speaking alongside the commanders of the army and airforce, was commenting on the upheaval in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front following Mugabe's dismissal of Emmerson Mnangagwa as vice president a week ago and his subsequent expulsion from the ruling party.
"It is with humility and a heavy heart that we come before you to pronounce the indisputable reality that there is instability in Zanu-PF today and as a result anxiety in the country at large," he said.
Under strong influence from his wife First Lady Grace, Mugabe, 93, has broken with most of his comrades who fought in the liberation war against the white-minority regime of Rhodesia, leaving the so-called Generation 40 faction of younger members of the ruling party championed by his wife who is now in the ascendancy.
"The current purging which is clearly targeting members of the party with liberation backgrounds must stop forthwith," Chiwenga said.
Source - bloomberg
