‘Don’t dare us… we’ll finish you,’ Emmerson Mnangagwa warns opposition

June 18, 2018
| Report Focus News
President Emmerson Mnangagwa during a TV interview with Bloomberg News in Harare, Zimbabwe on Thursday, January 18 2018. Pic: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly promised to stick to his pledge for a peaceful election, but has also said that his party would not take lightly to provocation by opposition parties.

Emmerson Mnangagwa said this while speaking to his supporters in Masvingo over the weekend.

“We (Zanu-PF) are people who are humble. We have humility, we have respect, but our respect and warmness should not be regarded as a weakness because if you dare us, we will finish with you.

“And you will know that we cannot be messed around with. When things go bad, we are equal to the task,” Mnangagwa was quoted as saying.

Mnangagwa said this as a record breaking 23 presidential candidates were cleared last week to run in the country’s elections due on July 30.

Key test

The crunch polls will include Mnangagwa, former vice president Joice Mujuru, Nelson Chamisa as well as Thokozani Khupe of both MDC factions.

It would be the first election in Zimbabwe since veteran leader Robert Mugabe was ousted following a brief military takeover in November last year, after 37 years in power.

A report by the state-owned Herald newspaper said that Mnangagwa was set to meet leaders of opposition parties in order to commit to a peaceful, fair and credible election.

The July election will be a key test for Mnangagwa, nicknamed the ‘Crocodile’, who succeeded the long-serving autocrat Mugabe seven months ago