Hunger fuelling public anger, says Mujuru

FORMER Vice-President and opposition Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) leader, Joice Mujuru, has accused President Robert Mugabe of wrongly labelling all people fighting his regime as eyeing his post.

Addressing party supporters during a joint rally he held with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Gweru on Saturday, Mujuru said the spontaneous protests currently taking places in different parts of the country were driven by hunger and not the quest for political power.

"These people do not want to be presidents, they want a good life and it's up to us not to destroy their aspirations. The problems we face as Zimbabweans are common. The hunger soldiers, the police and nurses face is the same."

Government has in the last few weeks ruthlessly crushed public demonstrations organised by churches, individuals, civil society groups and opposition parties, to voice concern over the deteriorating standards of living.

Mujuru accused Mugabe of surrounding himself with "rumour mongers," who misled him about the state of the nation, hence his failure to correctly interpret the growing public anger over Zanu-PF misrule.

Mujuru said war veterans did not sacrifice their lives in the liberation struggle to liberate Mugabe and his family, but the whole nation.

"They (war veterans) fought for the liberation of Zimbabweans not of one (Mugabe) family, not of one region, not of one colour, but of everybody. The freedom fighters, some buried in different parts of the continent, died for every Zimbabwean and that is what People First is all about."

Mujuru accused Zanu-PF of derailing her political campaign by holding parallel rallies close to venues booked by ZimPF.

"When they (Zanu-PF) hear we have booked for our party meetings, they also organise parallel meetings to disturb our programmes. Zanu-PF holds their noisy parties near our rallies, promising people (residential) stands grabbed from local councils and discriminately dish them to their supporters in a partisan manner in a bid to disturb our meetings."

Speaking at the same rally, Tsvangirai pledged to work with other democratic forces to bring about a new political dispensation in the country.

Mujuru was accompanied by her party stalwarts, Rugare Gumbo, Didymus Mutasa and Dzikamai Mavhaire, while Tsvangirai had his three vice-presidents, Thokozani Kupe, Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri, among other MDC-T leaders.