BY LORRAINE MUROMO
FORMER MDC-T vice-president Obert Gutu, who has since defected to the ruling Zanu PF party, on Tuesday claimed that none of the opposition parties stood a chance against Zanu PF in the 2023 elections.
Gutu, who was recently paraded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he crossed the floor to Zanu PF together with former MDC Alliance senator James Makore, made the utterances during an interview with Alpha Media Holdings’ Heart and Soul TV (HStv).
“I put my money on Zanu PF. There is no political party in this country that can beat Zanu PF in any free and fair election. I have done my studies, I have done my analysis and I have looked at the numbers,” Gutu said.
On human rights abuses, Gutu said they should not be tolerated in Zimbabwe, adding that people should rally behind Mnangagwa’s new dispensation.
“We should learn to be tolerant to divergent views and even opposing views, but the problem that we have in this country is if I say I am anti-sanctions, I am not necessarily saying all the people that are responsible for human rights violations are good people. No! What I am saying is let’s open a new chapter,” he said.
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“Things change in politics, I think the second republic is one of the governments which have been unfairly treated both internally and externally because if we take a look at President Mnangagwa, he has gone out of his way to say we are doing things differently.”
However, Mnangagwa’s government was this week adjudged by the United States as one of the worst human rights abusers in the world.
“I believe that this direction, he (Mnangagwa) is taking to fight corruption even if people are saying he is not doing enough, catching and releasing (corrupt people), but that effort I can call it an incremental gain.”
On his defection to Zanu PF, Gutu said: “I want to associate myself with a party that is nationalistic and does not play to the whims of imperialism, a party that wants to push the agenda of the African people.”
He took a dig at the fights in the opposition MDC camp and its various factions.
“The insults that the two factions exchange on social media, you might fear that if they see each other on the streets they will kill each other. It’s bad politics,” he said.