Indications are we are going to military rule – Zim ambassador
An ambassador to South Africa from the official opposition political party in Zimbabwe says all indications are that Zimbabwe is heading to military rule.
“There are mixed reports‚ we are not really sure what is happening‚” said Austin Moyo‚ the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Shadow Ambassador.
“What surprises us is one of the generals going on TV at four o’clock in the morning and now there are reports that there are some ministers‚ including Mugabe and his family‚ that have been placed under house arrest.
“All indications are that we are going towards a military rule. Those are the indications at this stage.”
The world awoke on Wednesday to reports of military vehicles driving through the capital as well as gunshots and explosions.
Reportedly‚ military vehicles have surrounded the presidential offices in Harare. The army meanwhile said on state television that it was not a coup.
Moyo said it was common knowledge that axed former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa and the chief of the ZDF‚ Gen. Constantine Chiwenga‚ were close and it was a possibility that the army was divided between Mnangagwa and Mugabe.
Mnangagwa indicated in a statement last week that he “would be returning home soon”. He was forced to flee Zimbabwe after his axing amid multiple reports of assassination attempts.
“But now‚ this caging that is happening‚ could maybe sway the army generals to say that Mugabe never went on the ground‚ into the bush with a gun fighting‚ but Mnangagwa was on the ground. We will protect our own‚” Moyo explained.
“It will be about past loyalties‚ and who was with who in the bush.”
Moyo said his colleagues within the MDC in Zimbabwe would issue a statement soon but expressed concerns over the voting process under way.
“The voter registration process that is going on will be disturbed‚ that is number one. Number two‚ the election will maybe not take place next year. It sets us back‚ to start afresh at the drawing board‚” he said.
“We have the original MDC from 1999. If the elections are withheld‚ it actually delays us from taking the government.”
-TimesLIVE