News / National
Mutharika in 'I don't want to be a dictator like Robert Mugabe' storm
20 Jun 2017 at 01:47hrs | Views
MALAWIAN President Peter Mutharika was at the weekend sucked into a social media storm where he stood accused of passing unpalatable comments about President Robert Mugabe.
But Mutharika's government on Sunday issued a statement denying the alleged social media report where he is alleged to have told thousands of his DPP supporters at Machinga that he would not cling onto to power like Mugabe.
"I don't want to be another Mugabe. Mugabe is in power for 37 years and look what he has done to the once jewel of Africa. We used to go to Harare for shopping and seek medical attention, but look what the old dictator Mugabe has done," he is alleged to have said, according to a report on Malawi's Nyasa Times website.
"I don't want to be a dictator like Robert Mugabe. At Malawi University there are about 10 lecturers from Zimbabwe and at MBC (Malawi Broadcasting Corporation) there are 15 workers from Zimbabwe because Mugabe destroyed their hopes," the report quoted Mutharika as having said.
But Mutharika's Information and Communications minister Nicholous Dausi dismissed the claims.
"Government (of Malawi) would like to distance itself from lies that have been made in the media that President Arthur Peter Mutharika is interfering in the internal matters of the Republic of Zimbabwe," Dausi said.
He added: "Pure propaganda is contained in an article carried by the online publication, Nyasa Times, claiming that the President has said that he does not want to be like the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Robert Gabriel Mugabe, by remaining in office beyond the limit of two terms that the Constitution of Republic of Malawi requires."
Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba was not available for comment with his mobile going unanswered.
Nyasa Times also distanced itself from the report which it described as a "ghost story".
According to Dausi, Mutharika had never addressed a rally in Machinga, saying the story could have been planted by opposition parties to create chaos ahead of the country's planned 2019 elections.
Mugabe, in power since independence 37 years ago, has already been endorsed as Zanu-PF's presidential candidate for elections expected next year.
Once described as the breadbasket and jewel of Africa, Zimbabwe has been reduced to a wreck by what critics say were Mugabe's "stone-age policies". At least four million Zimbabweans are surviving on food hand-outs from donor organisations while millions have fled political, social and economic upheaval to seek refuge across the globe where they have been forced to accept menial jobs.
But Mutharika's government on Sunday issued a statement denying the alleged social media report where he is alleged to have told thousands of his DPP supporters at Machinga that he would not cling onto to power like Mugabe.
"I don't want to be another Mugabe. Mugabe is in power for 37 years and look what he has done to the once jewel of Africa. We used to go to Harare for shopping and seek medical attention, but look what the old dictator Mugabe has done," he is alleged to have said, according to a report on Malawi's Nyasa Times website.
"I don't want to be a dictator like Robert Mugabe. At Malawi University there are about 10 lecturers from Zimbabwe and at MBC (Malawi Broadcasting Corporation) there are 15 workers from Zimbabwe because Mugabe destroyed their hopes," the report quoted Mutharika as having said.
But Mutharika's Information and Communications minister Nicholous Dausi dismissed the claims.
"Government (of Malawi) would like to distance itself from lies that have been made in the media that President Arthur Peter Mutharika is interfering in the internal matters of the Republic of Zimbabwe," Dausi said.
Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba was not available for comment with his mobile going unanswered.
Nyasa Times also distanced itself from the report which it described as a "ghost story".
According to Dausi, Mutharika had never addressed a rally in Machinga, saying the story could have been planted by opposition parties to create chaos ahead of the country's planned 2019 elections.
Mugabe, in power since independence 37 years ago, has already been endorsed as Zanu-PF's presidential candidate for elections expected next year.
Once described as the breadbasket and jewel of Africa, Zimbabwe has been reduced to a wreck by what critics say were Mugabe's "stone-age policies". At least four million Zimbabweans are surviving on food hand-outs from donor organisations while millions have fled political, social and economic upheaval to seek refuge across the globe where they have been forced to accept menial jobs.
Source - newsday
