Death threats to investors not good for the country says Tsvangirai

THE Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday said Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's "chilling threats to investors does not befit his office and only unwittingly serve to convey the message that murderers and unrepentant hardliners are in charge in Harare."

Read Full Statement below:

Zimbabweans, and indeed the world, were shocked at the weekend when Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa issued chilling death threats to investors that have poured millions of their money into the country's economy.

Campaigning for his wife in Chirumanzu-Zibagwe at the weekend, the second-in-command in government said he was "trained to shoot and kill" and accused two companies, Tongaat Hullet and Bindura Nickel Corporation of working with ousted vice President Joyce Mujuru.

Mnangagwa's chilling threats to investors do not befit his office and only unwittingly serve to convey the message that murderers and unrepentant hardliners are in charge in Harare.
The Vice President does not provide any evidence of what crime the two companies have committed. But his chilling statement is a vindication of what we have said all along that the leopard will always remain faithful to its spots. Even if they had committed a crime, the legal route is more civilized than death threats.

Any threat to investors should send a clear message to those walking the path of unconditional re-engagement with Zanu PF that their hope for any sort of civility and reform by the party in the seat of government is grossly misplaced. This remains the same old Zanu PF that we have known for years; a party of thugs and murderers.

The two companies threatened by the Presidency of the country are long-time investors that have braved the harsh economic environment and created employment for the people of this country. The last message they expected from the highest office in the land is a blood-soaked threat, which threat will also influence any other investor who was prepared to pour their money into our troubled economy.

The so-called new brooms that joined Mugabe in the cockpit of the country are unrepentant hardliners who are still stuck in the same outmoded politics of violence and bloodshed. They cannot be expected to attract any investment for the country, nor can they run a modern economy.

And in line with the dynasties that are slowly being established in the country, the Vice President was campaigning for his wife who wants to take over his former constituency.
Zimbabwe wants a break from the past. The country is in desperate need for Foreign Direct Investment and the confidence of investors such as Tongaat Hullet and Bindura Nickel Corporation who have benefitted the country and created employment for the people of Zimbabwe.  

A Vice President who threatens investors with death for an undefined crime has no place in the 21st century.
 
Luke Tamborinyoka
MDC-T Presidential Spokesperson