'Mugabe type 'coup' can't be repeated elsewhere in the world'

OPERATION Restore Legacy which saw the resignation of former president Mugabe is an unprecedented miracle which cannot be repeated elsewhere in the world, Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba has said.

Mr Charamba lauded the intelligence of the security forces for the smooth transition which ended with no bloodshed despite millions of people spontaneously taking to the streets.

In an interview on ZiFM Stereo, a local radio station this week, Mr Charamba said it was indeed an unparalleled miracle that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world.

"I was part of the negotiating team that provided some link between the military and the former president alongside Father (Fidelis) Mukonori and a colleague called Aaron Nhepera. So really I had this rather unenvious role of plying between the military and of course the outgoing president to just make sure that there was some understanding and to just make sure that the transition itself was peaceful.

"I am so happy that we were able to discharge that function without a loss of life. In a way that really made for a very smooth transition which has been a miracle in the world," said Mr Charamba.

He said considering that guns were moving, tanks were moving and the country was going through that delicate phase, "elsewhere there would have had bodies and bodies on the streets which did not happen in Zimbabwe".

"The Zimbabwean transition is non-repeatable, that's why it passes for a miracle. What makes it non-repeatable is the fact that the command of our defence or security forces establishment is amazingly literate.

"You could sit down with the commanders and reason out with them in spite of operations and tension that come with that operation to say ah General Chiwenga this one is not . . . why don't we look at it this way and they could see your point because quite a good number of them have PHDs. Just to have that intellectual faculty does make a difference between creatures of the brawn and creatures of the brain," said Mr Charamba.

"So you do not find that level of literacy in any other command on the continent which is why I dare say what happened in the month of November which has passed for a miracle cannot be tried elsewhere."

In November 2017, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) carried out Operation Restore Legacy to remove criminals around the former and first executive president of Zimbabwe Mr Mugabe.

It was an intervention meant to arrest a potentially volatile, social, economic and political situation in the country.

The ZDF assured the nation that the uniformed forces had not staged a take over to unseat Mr Mugabe, but were targeting some criminal elements around him that were causing instability in Government and the ruling Zanu-PF.

President Mnangagwa is on record saying Operation Restore Legacy was launched to rescue the values and ethos of the liberation struggle threatened by political upstarts and counter-revolutionaries.

He said the G40 cabal and their destructive politics not only destabilised Zanu-PF, but also brought confusion in the country.

"It had destabilised the party, causing absolute divisions and disquiet in the nation which sat on edge. The party ideology, rules and protocols were being desecrated daily or simply being brushed aside at will," said President Mnangagwa.

"Party structures were overrun, while elected office-bearers were summarily suspended and dismissed at speeds of caprice and vaulting ambition. Corrupt activities and corrupt individuals were daily sanitised while millions of dollars were being stolen and stashed outside the country."