Tinashe Sambiri|Feeling insecure due to rising political tension, the Zanu PF leader Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa this week released a statement threatening to deregister NGOs and CSOs he accused of plotting the downfall of his troubled administration.
Mr Mnangagwa’s sentiments were also echoed by senior members of Zanu PF, indicating the former revolutionary party is playing the blame game in a bid to confuse citizens.
Mr Mnangagwa instructed Zanu PF members to work towards reclaiming resounding victory in urban areas, a prospect political analysts say is unachievable given the fact that the regime’s support base is dwindling in towns and cities.
“Party structures, particularly the District Coordinating Committees office bearers in the Business Liaisons, Youth and Women League secretariats from the cell, branch, right up to provincial level in urban areas and growth points are called upon to implement robust mobilisation programmes to bring every urbanite to ZANU PF, the home of the people’s revolution,” said Mr Mnangagwa.
Responding to Mr Mnangagwa’s threats to censor NGOs,
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesperson Marvellous Khumalo, quoted by NewsDay, said CSOs would remain guided by the laws of the country.
“What we will do as CSOs is that we will be guided by the laws of the country.
You would recall that we wrote to Harare provincial development co-ordinator Tafadzwa Muguti requesting that he furnishes us with the pieces of legislation that support his directives because as CSOs, we will be comfortable to do things that are within the confines of the law.
“We don’t want to go outside the provisions of the Constitution and other pieces of legislation,” said Khumalo.
He added: “We are not taking it as tough times ahead so far. What these people are saying at this point in time are just threats. We are not inviting sideshows as of now because politicians will always try to possibly distract us from our mandate and scope of work. We will not be drawn in.”
“We will wait for further engagements through normal government procedures and we are not worried with what political parties say behind closed doors. We will be guided by the law,” he said.
