Former Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara in an exclusive interview with Sky News said Zimbabwe’s foundation is very flawed, the regime is a product of a coup de tat. When Mugabe was removed the system was not changed. The values were not change there was never any move towards constitutionalism.
The interview:
Sky news: We have seen evidence of the last week, some of the brittle security clampdown, people have been raped, beaten, and abused. Given what you have been saying, do you think we are sliding towards the bad old of Robert Mugabe, we are heading towards a situation like that?
AM: We never moved away from Robert Mugabe, that’s the problem. In November 2017, we removed Robert Mugabe the person, we didn’t change the system that he created. So the people running Zimbabwe do not know any better, all they know are the methods of Mugabe. All they know are the values and the culture of Robert Mugabe. So they are no surprises there, there was never any shift. There was never any change for the better in Zimbabwe. We must address the foundational matters of allowing the people of Zimbabwe to vote for the people they want. We must allow in Zimbabwe a move towards the rule of law, constitutionalism, new institutions and new values. The regime in Zimbabwe has never moved away from the values of Robert Mugabe. What happened in 2017 was a false moment, a false consciousness. There was never any change.
Sky news: So given more you’re saying, is it too simplistic to say the generals that ousted Mugabe and brought Mnangagwa to power they are ones who are actually pulling the strings?
AM: Well all of them believe in the same thing, the generals, Mnangagwa, Chiwenga they belong to the same category, there’s no difference. This people are a product of the Mugabeism, the values, the culture, the way of governance which ran Zimbabwe for 37 years. You don’t expect anything different from Mnangagwa, you don’t expect anything different from this government. What we need to do is to understand that foundationally, the arrangement in Zimbabwe is a product of a coup de tat. The elections in 2018 were rigged, they were flowed. So you don’t expect democracy, you don’t expect justice, you don’t expect economic prosperity to come from that scenario. We must go back to the drawing table. No surprises in terms of what’s going on in the country.
Sky News: So what should the International community do about Mnangagwa then. He has presented himself as this, reformer, modernised? Surely he is better than Mugabe.
AM: No he’s not. They must reject the pretence. They must reject the notion of a new dispensation and urge Zimbabwe as a society to create conditions for free and fair elections. Urge Zimbabweans to reform their politics, to reform their society. In Zimbabwe of course we want people to work together to create an environment where we can have free and fair elections. Where we can have proper expression in terms of the choices for the people of Zimbabwe. The International community, the British in particular must not be hoodwinked by false sense of a new dispensation. No, there is no new dispensation in Zimbabwe. It’s the same old scenario and we need fundamental change.
Sky News: How about a unity government, is there a potential way forward? After all we have seen partnering in Zimbabwe before in Zimbabwe, haven’t we?
AM: What’s important is to make sure that Zimbabwe talk to each other, dialogue in Zimbabwe, the opposition, civil society, the ruling party. The outcome could be an inclusive government. The outcome could be an agreement on reforms. The outcome could be some arrangements where we say let us focus on our country. We can’t bicker and talk about an election for 5years. For 5 years there must be development in the country, there must be progress. The opposition cannot be crying about a stolen election for 5 years. There must come up with a strategy to say how do we put our country first. So yes to dialogue, yes to working together among Zimbabweans. Several scenarios, it could be an inclusive government, it could be just an agreement on reforms and changes, or even what is happening in Kenya where Odinga and Uhuru appear together and put before their partisan aspirations.
He urged Zimbabweans to resolve the matters of the economic collectively as the economy is burning.
Source: skynews
