Mthwakazi youths threaten to close borders and airports to curb gold smuggling

The Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) Youth League has threatened to close all borders and airports before the August elections in order to combat gold smuggling, which the party claims is carried out by individuals linked to Zanu-PF.

This call comes after MRP stated that action was needed to stop gold smuggling, as seen in the four-part Al Jazeera documentary, The Gold Mafia, which sparked outrage in the country by revealing how large amounts of gold are smuggled clandestinely from Zimbabwe every month, assisting money laundering through an intricate network of shell businesses, fake invoices, and paid-off officials, some linked to the government led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Speaking at an MRP star rally held in Lobengula Hall in Bulawayo on Thursday, Mudenda Chilumbo, Chairperson of the MRP Youth League, said an uprising was needed to stop resource plundering and maladministration that was prevalent under the Zanu-PF regime.

"We have the borders at Plumtree, Beitbridge and Kazungula plus airports that are the Joshua Mqabuko International Airport in Bulawayo and the Victoria Falls International Airport, we will take them to a halt. No plane will fly from Joshua Mqabuko or Victoria Falls International airports. No haulage trucks will also move out of the border. This is the only way to stop this nonsense," he said, referring to these as avenues in which gold was smuggled out of the country.

Chilumbo said MRP youth were "prepared to die for this country and would not allow looting to continue."

"We have doctors, nurses and teachers who are suffering yet there are gold smugglers. It is our duty to stop that nonsense. Let us restore the spirit of the liberation struggle," said the youth league chairperson.

He claimed that an "uprising" was the only solution to Zimbabwe's crisis, drastic as it sounded.

"The United Nations gives people the right to revolt and we want an uprising because there is no other solution than a  revolution. All airports must close down. We can't continue respecting Mnangagwa. Treason is a small issue. Mnangagwa is not going to stop a revolution, the revolution noise is louder than the sound of an AK," Chlumbo said.

"We are calling on youth from these various places that house these borders to support our call. Youth in Beitbridge must close the border there while we here in Bulawayo meet at the airport."

Chilumbo said there is a difference between a political party and a revolutionary movement, of which MRP was the latter.

"We have value and ethics while others are concerned about smuggling gold. We have to deal with the saga of gold smuggling before elections," he said, noting people must know what MRP was demanding, adding he spoke "with clarity and conviction."

He further suggested that Zimbabwe could hold elections without President Mnangagwa, implying that MRP would have ‘removed' him.

"Mnangagwa went to Britain for the coronation of King Charles yet he has denied the revival of the Ndebele monarch but together with Britain have celebrated the dethronement of the Ndebele kingdom," said the youth league chair.

"They arrested nine of our members for inciting violence but what incites violence more betwen gold smuggling and those fighting for their rights. That's nonsense! Some will say I am making treasonous statements but we have (the late veteran) Lookout Masuku who was charged for treason under false pretences. What is treason compared to death? We are demanding independence, not elections that are a project of a colonial white system."

Chilumbo also claimed holding national elections was pointless because the voting processes were already skewed in favour of Zanu-PF.

"Why hold elections when Mnangagwa has won? The liberation struggle was for one man one vote but here the elections have been rigged by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission," he alleged.

The MRP youth league chair further alleged leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Nelson Chamisa "has no zeal to take over after Mnangagwa."

"Chamisa has a cluster of useless lawyers and some politicians from Matabeleland have also been useless – Professor Jonathan Moyo, Professor Mthuli Ncube, Professor Welshman Ncube and Dr Thojozani Khupe. We need your support and we say 'forward to the uprising.'"