How Mnagagwa threatened Eddie Cross into submission

The recent remarks by former MDC MP Eddie Cross in support of President Emmerson Mnangagwa should be read in the context of the Gukurahundi Genocide era when Mnangagwa threatened Cross exiled Professor Jonathan Moyo has said.

"Mnangagwa and Cross became friends in the height of Gukurahundi. They did a chirangano after Mnangagwa, then CIO minister, summoned Cross to his office." Prof Moyo said. "Cross left the office a changed man and has since not looked back. But a Gukurahundi-arms-cache type of tale in 2019 is a joke."

Cross recently told a gathering in Cape Town that former members of the G40 are buying guns to oust President Mnangagwa.

Prof Moyo added that Eddie Cross was so impressed with Mnangagwa's murderous Gukurahundi prowess he silently witnessed from 1983 to 1987 that he has since then worshiped him, even as an MDC MP. Now he's helping Mnangagwa to peddle a gukurahundi-type-of-lie that the so called G40 are buying weapons.

Writing in his blog on how Mnangagwa threatened him to keep quiet over Gukurahundi, Cross revealed that:

In 1983 when I was General Manager of the Dairibord - a large Parastatal in the dairy industry, I got a call one day from the Catholic Mission in Lupane to say that the Army was in the District and causing mayhem. I called the then Secretary to the Prime Minister (Mugabe) and Cabinet, Charles Utete, and asked him what was going on. I invited him to fly with me in a light aircraft to see for ourselves. He replied after 30 minutes that this was 'nothing to do with me, too sensitive and I should leave it alone'.

The Catholics sent me a report on the problems in the District (it was the start of Gukurahundi - the 'storm that cleans') and I took this report with me on a business trip to Scandinavia where I shared it with four foreign Ministers and asked them to get their Prime Ministers to call our Prime Minister and urge restraint. When I got home I was summoned to the Ministers Office and there I was given a transcript of my discussions with the Norwegian Secretary of State and I was given a severe warning from the Minister of State Security to 'never do that again, or else'. That was Mnangagwa.

I took the advice and watched from the sidelines over the next 4 years as the supporters of Joshua Nkomo were bludgeoned into submission. Tens of thousands lost their lives and perhaps a million people fled their homes for South Africa.

Of interest to me as an economist, was his short sojourn at the Ministry of Finance. I do not recall the circumstances, but I do remember how effective he was in a very short space of time. This view was reinforced by the senior Civil Servants in the Ministry who said he was clear headed, did not have to be told anything twice, made decisions and was a pleasure to work with. Most of all he took advice and listened. So often a weakness in so called 'strong men'.

I have been a Member of Parliament for ten years, during that time we have had many interchanges with Emmerson. He has a very sharp mind and a sense of humor but if you do take him on, expect no prisoners. The one thing that always impressed me was his automatic authority in the House of Assembly - often a rowdy and unruly place. If he stood up in a debate or at question time, a hush would descend on the House. Very few command that kind of control.