HARARE,
ZimbabweZimbabwe’s Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe reads a statement on behalf of the Working National Security Council addressing rumours of an imminent coup in the country.
Zimbabwe’s Working National Security Council on
Wednesday dismissed as “unfounded” rumours of a military coup in the making.
The Council said that the nation’s security
forces remained “loyal, professional and dedicated to their constitutional
mandate”.
The nation’s Home Affairs Minister, Kazembe
Kazembe, issued a statement at Munhumutapa building in Harare with military
chiefs in attendance.
According to the Council, peddlers of the
rumour claim that former members of the ruling ZANU-PF “who fell by the wayside
and went into exile” are uniting with some government leaders and security
forces and elements of the opposition to undermine the legitimacy of the
government and render the country ungovernable.
The peddlers further claim that, once the coup
is executed, a National Transitional Authority, will be established and govern
the country, without ZANU-PF, for an unspecified period of time.
“…nothing could be further from the true
reality of Zimbabwe’s security situation now and for the foreseeable future.
Indeed, both claims of a military coup and a National Transitional Authority in
the making, amount to the mere agenda setting by merchants of discord and
amongst our people, with the support of their foreign handlers,” the statement
read in part.
The Council accused some opposition-aligned
print and electronic media outlets, some civil society organisations and
certain diplomatic missions of being in league with the said purveyors.
“They are completely unfounded. For the
avoidance of doubt, there is no coup in the making, nor is there any form of
transitional authority or inclusive government that is contemplated by the new
dispensation, except in the fertile imagination of the purveyors in this false
narrative.”
The Council sent a strong warning to the
elements behind the rumours saying that the government will take action against
them.
“The government would like to sternly warn the
purveyors of this medley of falsehoods, who include such characters as Saviour
Kasukuwere, Job Sikala and a coterie of their accomplices who we are aware of,
not to cry foul when the long arm of Zimbabwean law catches up with them in due
course.”
“We would like to take this opportunity to
remind and assure the nation and the international community at large that
Zimbabwe, under the New Dispensation and the able stewardship of President Dr.
E. D. Mnangagwa, is stable and peaceful internally.”
Zimbabweans have grown increasingly frustrated
with the direction the country has taken since the ousting of longtime leader
Robert Mugabe in 2017 following a military takeover and days of civilian
protests.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded
him, has faced a number of political and socio-economic challenges in the
subsequent years.
Firstly, there have been protracted rumours
that there exists a division between him and Vice-President Constantino
Chiwenga. Chiwenga led the coup that ousted Mugabe and some local media outlets
once speculated that he was in charge. However, Mnangagwa dismissed those
rumours saying that he and Chiwenga were comrades and understood each other.
The country’s economy, already facing one of
its worst crises in decades, is grappling with runaway inflation and spiralling
commodity and fuel prices amidst a food shortage. Additionally, the nation’s
public sector has faced a number of strikes, particularly by medics due to low
salaries and poor working conditions.
Even as the government struggles to address all
these problems, it still has to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic and a surge
in malaria cases.
The Council reiterated that the government was
aware of the many difficulties facing the people of Zimbabwe.
“We, therefore, take this opportunity to assure all the people of Zimbabwe that government will spare no effort towards improving their livelihoods, along with the welfare and conditions of services of employees.” - Africa
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