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Jakaya Kikwete called Mugabe a 'village thief'
04 Dec 2018 at 09:19hrs | Views
Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete called Robert Mugabe a village thief who stole elections when they met in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt in 2008.
This was revealed by Professor Arthur Mutambara when he was launching his book The Path to Power on Monday in Johannesburg.
"When Robert Mugabe stole elections in 2008 and flew to Egypt for the African Union Summit, he was confronted by all the Presidents of Africa accusing him of stealing elections." Mutambara said. " Mugabe was not happy at all he then asked some of his colleagues whom he knew were stealing elections and questioned their moral standing in accusing him. It is at that point that Jakaya Kikwete stood up to Mugabe and told him that if there is a thief in the village, the thief must not claim innocence because there are other thieves elsewhere. So Kikwete told Mugabe that Sir you are our village thief."
Mutambara said had they known earlier that Mugabe was called a village thief by his peers they would have had enough bargaining power during the negotiations that would have seen Morgan Tsvangirai emerging as President and not Robert Mugabe.
The period of the Global Political Agreement is covered at length in Mutambara's book.
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the first round of the election on March 29 but withdrew from the run-off after he said pro-government militias killed 86 of his supporters.
This was revealed by Professor Arthur Mutambara when he was launching his book The Path to Power on Monday in Johannesburg.
"When Robert Mugabe stole elections in 2008 and flew to Egypt for the African Union Summit, he was confronted by all the Presidents of Africa accusing him of stealing elections." Mutambara said. " Mugabe was not happy at all he then asked some of his colleagues whom he knew were stealing elections and questioned their moral standing in accusing him. It is at that point that Jakaya Kikwete stood up to Mugabe and told him that if there is a thief in the village, the thief must not claim innocence because there are other thieves elsewhere. So Kikwete told Mugabe that Sir you are our village thief."
Mutambara said had they known earlier that Mugabe was called a village thief by his peers they would have had enough bargaining power during the negotiations that would have seen Morgan Tsvangirai emerging as President and not Robert Mugabe.
The period of the Global Political Agreement is covered at length in Mutambara's book.
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the first round of the election on March 29 but withdrew from the run-off after he said pro-government militias killed 86 of his supporters.
Source - Byo24News
