The ruling ZANU PF party has warned foreign embassies that it accuses of sponsoring protests that are planned for July 31 that they should not take Zimbabwe’s re-engagement drive as a sign of weakness.
While addressing the media after a politburo meeting on Friday, the party’s acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa said the attacks on the country’s leaders by the unnamed foreign diplomats should stop forthwith. He said:
There are foreign interests fuelling and funding the proposed demonstration at the end of the month and also being very active on social media to vilify and undermine the government and Zanu PF.
So sadly, we are being misunderstood that when we talk about re-engaging, it’s not from a position of weakness but it is because we believe in international solidarity which was very key to our mounting the armed struggle.
Sadly, these attacks are spoiling the good name of the country and its leadership on a global scale. This has to stop forthwith. It is very clear that the aim is a regime change agenda, a priority despite our efforts to re-engage.
Chinamasa vowed that citizens’ protests as happened in August 2018, which resulted in the killing of six people, and in January 2019, again resulting in the death of more than a dozen people, will never happen again.
He also blamed MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa of calling for demonstrations while avoiding leading the protesters from the front.
Calls for the July 31 protests are being driven by Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume, a former member of the pre-2018 general elections MDC Alliance coalition.