Brigadier General (Retired) Ambrose Mutinhiri, the leader of the National Patriotic Front (NPF) has said that he has no specific knowledge of the ruling Zanu-PF party rigging elections. The NPF has ruffled feathers in Zanu-PF after it was endorsed by former president Robert Mugabe. In an interview with the weekly publication, The Standard, Mutinhiri said
The question of whether elections were rigged is not a matter of belief but a technical matter of knowledge and information.
I don’t have such knowledge and I don’t have such information because I was never involved in the technical administration of elections. If anyone has such knowledge or information, I would be happy to look at it and to act on it.
When asked what needed to be done to ensure free, fair and credible elections, Mutinhiri said,
Fundamentally, there must be a restoration of constitutional order, normalcy, democracy, legitimacy and demilitarisation.
The over 2 000 soldiers that are now embedded in villages and streets must be withdrawn through a credible programme. Those who got power by force cannot be expected to run free, fair and credible elections. It has never happened anywhere in the world. We cannot expect lunatics to run the mental asylum.
More: The Standard