Removing Mugabe, Zanu PF alone not enough, says Dabengwa

Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa has said removing President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF alone is not enough, saying Zimbabweans must also weed the country of the "evil system" that has sustained the governing party since 1980 to guarantee economic turnaround.

Dabengwa on Saturday said Mugabe and Zanu PF's "bad governance lies at the root of the country's socio-economic problems".

He, however, warned that pushing out Mugabe was not the end game, adding the 92-year-old veteran politician had created a system which could remain a stumbling block to economic recovery after he was gone.

Meanwhile, Dabengwa has backed calls for a National Transitional Authority (NTA) to run Zimbabwe's affairs till the next elections, arguing it was necessary to guarantee a peaceful transition.

Dabengwa said an NTA was an unavoidable "soft-landing" option to the country's socio-political and economic crisis.

He urged Zimbabweans to reject another government of national unity (GNU), saying it would only delay Zanu PF's removal from power and give the ruling party an undeserved breathing space as happened during the term of the unity government between 2009 and 2013.