PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has said there is a foreign-funded scheme to peddle falsehoods to tarnish the image of the country after the world condemned his administration’s crackdown on pro-democracy activists ahead of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit slated for August 17 and 18.
Government has received backlash from Western embassies and foreign organisations following the arrest of over 100 activists, with some having been severely tortured in custody.
The incarcerated pro-democracy activists, who are yet to be granted bail, are languishing in detention.
Speaking during the burial of former Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army High Command member and pioneer liberation fighter, national hero Makhethi Ndebele yesterday, Mnangagwa said there was a concerted effort to spread falsehoods.
“Presently, there are concerted efforts to reverse the gains of our protracted liberation struggle. These attacks take many forms, including peddling falsehoods about our country. It is a shame that there is a deliberate and foreign-funded campaign which is devoid of the evidence against unprecedented success milestones we are witnessing across every facet of society and the economy. We shall never be deterred or discouraged. We are marching forward ever, backwards never,” Mnangagwa said.
He accused unnamed powers of trying to sow discord in the region and continent.
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“The strategies by some powers designed to sow discord and division between fraternal States in our region and on our continent will never succeed. We defeated imperialistic agendas to achieve our liberation and independence. We shall defeat them in the present, again and again,” Mnangagwa said.
“Their interests are never designed for Africa and its people, but to control our strategic resource endowments, including our God-given minerals, which we have in abundance.
“Wherever their nefarious machinations show their ugly face, these shall be resisted, both in honour of our heroes and for the economic prosperity, peace and stability for present as well as future generations.
“On our part as Zimbabwe, we remain deeply-rooted in our diplomatic mantra that ‘Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none’.”
Several embassies have voiced their concerns after State apparatus launched a clampdown on political activists perceived to be planning protests during the Sadc summit.
The United States embassy in Harare said Zimbabwe’s government was undermining the Sadc guiding principles.
“The increasing reports of detention and violence towards Zimbabweans exercising their constitutional rights of freedom of expression and assembly run counter to the democratic principles upon which Sadc is built,” it posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The British government also weighed in through a statement from its high commissioner in the country.
“Following these developments and statements by the government of Zimbabwe closely, ahead of this month’s Sadc summit in Harare, we urge the authorities to uphold the rule of law, including constitutional rights to assembly and association and to ensure due process for all Zimbabweans,” the statement read.
The European Union said: “We the heads of mission of the European Union in Harare are deeply concerned about the multiple arrests that have occurred over the last two months.”
Police in June pounced on opposition Citizens Coalition for Change party supporters who were holding a meeting at top party member Jameson Timba’s house in Avondale, Harare.
Seventy-nine opposition members were arrested, including Timba and his son.
Seventy-seven of them continue to languish in prison after being denied bail.
In July, police arrested 44 members of the Zimbabwe National Students Union at the Zesa Training Centre in Belvedere, Harare, following the eruption of violence, which resulted in the destruction of property.
Last week, four local pro-democracy activists were pulled off a Victoria Falls-bound plane at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and allegedly tortured following their abduction.
These are Namatai Kwekweza, Robson Chere, Samuel Gwenzi and Vusumuzi Moyo, while more than 100 people are currently in detention following their arrest across the country since June.
In Mutare, 11 residents were rounded up at a private residence before being accused of gathering to plot demonstrations ahead of the summit.
In Kariba, 14 CCC activists appeared in court last Friday and were remanded to this Thursday, charged with participating in a gathering with the intention to cause violence.
Several other senior opposition leaders have reportedly been summoned by the police charged with participating in demonstrations, some dating as far back as in 2019.