THE MDC has come under attack from many quarters of Zimbabwe after the opposition party cancelled all its forthcoming events, including the 20th anniversary slated for Rufaro Stadium in Harare this Saturday.
Addressing the Press on Tuesday afternoon, MDC leader Nelson Chamisa said his party did not necessarily have to be hard on the late former President Robert Mugabe, adding it was now important for them to learn from the mistakes made by the nonagenarian.
“Mugabe is gone, but Zimbabwe is not gone. We have Zimbabwe, and we are Zimbabweans. There is now a need to build our country together; go to the past and say how do we correct the injustices of the past.” Chamisa said.
His statement was, however, severely criticised by the public who see the MDC as pandering to popular sentiment in order to salvage the party’s faltering fortunes from Mugabe’s funeral.
“I am saddened by the position which the Chamisa-led MDC party has taken. Yes, we should respect the dead, but Mugabe does not deserve our respect. He killed, butchered and abducted but never apologised for that,” Mathew Marange, a University of Zimbabwe student, said.
His sentiments were also echoed by Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure, who said senior politicians were careless when it came to principles and values.
“Mugabe’s death has exposed how much our senior politicians care less about principles and values. It is all about expediency; they are ever-chasing after political capital,” Masaraure said.
“A brutal dictator who robbed us our livelihoods is now being celebrated? Elitist collaboration is more important than the thousands who were butchered in coldblood in Matabeleland. Tonderai Ndira is of less value in their eyes. Itai Dzamara, to them, is only a statistic,” Masaraure fumed.
During his reign, Mugabe was accused by many of being ruthless and iron-fisted. His era in power was littered with serious human rights violations, resulting in the deaths, permanent injuries and incarcerations of several innocent citizens.
