Patrick Zhuwao, nephew of former president Robert Mugabe has lashed out at African Union (AU) chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat for supporting the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, which he says came into power through a military coup. Zhuwao was unhappy that Mahamat had called the November 2017 military intervention a peaceful transition. Mahamat also professed ignorance of the petition filed by the New Patriotic Front (NPF). The NPF is believed to be the brainchild of Zhuwao and other exiled G40 members such as Saviour Kasukuwere and Jonathan Moyo. Said Zhuwao
The statement attributed to you is astonishingly baseless and, in fact, false.
More specifically, your statement is partial, and partisan given there is not record of your having interacted with affected stakeholders, including victims and families of those who were killed or tortured during the coup leading to the displacement of countless Zimbabweans both internally and externally.
Furthermore, it is extremely disingenuous of you to claim ignorance of the petition sent to you by NPF on 29 January 2018 especially in light of the massive administrative and institutional infrastructure of the AU.
…In the circumstances, it is my hope and prayer that the reports attributed to you are erroneous because your position of legitimating a glaring military coup has dire consequences for legitimate and constitutional governance in Africa.
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