“Those in the diaspora who support Emmerson Mnangagwa and truly trust in him, have faith in him and his way of doing things please show real support by packing your bags and coming back to support him, bring your ideas he needs them, it’s pointless for you to say Zimbabwe yakunaka because of ED when you are not home, huyai munakise Zimbabwe muchabatsira wamunotsigira.” – Setfree Mafukidze

If you can’t come it’s confirmation you have no faith in your leader, it’s confirmation you know kuti Dololo is Dololo. Come home Lacoste members.

By A Correspondent| Just as Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu issued a statement calling for diasporans to return home saying the country is now safe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been caught in an uphill task to convince victims of violence who fled the country when he (Mnangagwa) personally aided his former boss, Robert Mugabe in the violent 2008 elections.

During the 2008 presidential election the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) withheld the Presidential election results for over a month during a time when state security operatives killed hundreds of opposition supporters ahead of a run-off election.

That election run off was personally engineered by President Mnangagwa himself who says he had to step in when Didymus Mutasa had fled. Mnangagwa says in a video recorded speech: “Didymus Mutasa fled to Rusape and I remained with the President (Mugabe) ….and told him that there was a run off so as a lawyer (Morgan) Tsvangirai had not won.”

The delayed results which Mnangagwa used, displayed that Tsvangirai had garnered less than 50 % of the vote. But 6 years later, while addressing service chiefs Mugabe exposed Mnangagwa saying he (Tsvangirai) had in fact won by 73 percent of the vote.

The revelations put Mnangagwa at the centre of allegations of violence.

The state owed Chronicle newspaper reports how Obert Mpofu has been assigned to look into the matter of bringing diasporans based in Botswana back home.

Mpofu is quoted by the Chronicle saying he recently visited Botswana and met the affected people.

He said he discovered that most of them were victims of political violence. “There are about 686 Zimbabweans who sought refuge in Botswana. I saw most of them and they mainly hail from Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North and Bulawayo and just a few from other provinces such as Midlands. Most of them left the country in 2008,” said Mpofu.

“They said they left the country escaping political violence during the election re-run period. These people say they want to return home but feared for their safety. They want some assurances.”

The Minister assured them that they will not be harmed once they are back home.

He said Government was working with Botswana and its partners on modalities to repatriate the refugees.

“Some of them said their homes have been destroyed and are seeking assistance to rebuild them. I’m constantly in touch with some of them. Some of them are already coming. But we want this thing to be organised. We are working in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Botswana government,” Mpofu said.

He said the coming in of a new leader in Botswana, President Mokgweetsi Masisi, will not affect bilateral relations between the two countries as he was already in the system as the neighbours forged new relations.

President Masisi, who deputised ex-President Ian Khama who retired on March 31 as the country’s leader, started work on April 1. Mpofu said he is satisfied with the change of heart among Batswana nationals in their treatment of Zimbabweans.

He said during his visit, he raised the issue of harassment of Zimbabwean illegal immigrants by their employers with relevant authorities and they promised to address the matter. Mpofu said he also appealed to Botswana officials not to shoot Zimbabwean cattle that stray into the neighbouring country.

“We also spoke about the issue of cattle straying into Botswana. We suggested that instead of them shooting down the animals they should quarantine them. Quarantining could be helpful because some of the animals would have been stolen in Zimbabwe and we would be intending to use them as exhibits after they have been recovered. But when they are shot dead we won’t have any exhibits,” he said.