The opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa has said it will work with all uniformed forces “in the new Zimbabwe”.
The remarks come after former Local Government Minister, Ignatius Chombo, warned Chamisa that the army Generals were not going to salute him and would never allow the ruling party ZANU PF to lose power.
In a Twitter post, Chombo said;
Chamisa himself knows he is too small to be saluted by these men of war. These generals are waiting for their turn on the presidency and this can only happen when Zanu Pf is in power, so even if Zanu Pf loses the election why would they let it go without a fight?
In a Twitter post this Tuesday, the opposition party appears to be responding to Chombo’s remarks by assuring that the CCC government won’t be hostile to the security sector. Reads the Twitter post seen by Pindula News:
A NEW GREAT ZIMBABWE PLAN:
We will honour, protect and work with all men and women in uniform. We will and must reward the patriotism and integrity of our security services.
We salute our citizens security services – the citizens’ army, citizens’ police and citizens’ intelligence and prison services. Behold the new!
Some context:
The opposition has over the years been calling for security sector reforms saying the sector was captured by the ruling ZANU PF.
Government critics, including the opposition, argued that the army, police and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) were now partisan.
In previous elections, security forces allegedly assaulted members of the opposition at the instigation of the ruling party, a sign that they would not allow regime change.
ZANU PF officials have given contradicting statements with regard to power transfer. Some say power won’t be transferred to the opposition even if ZANU PF loses. In 2018, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared that his party was going to hand over power to another political party in the event that it loses the 2018 harmonised elections.