Roman Catholic Church priest, Father Fidelis Mukonori, has implored President Emmerson Mnangagwa and CCC leader Nelson Chamisa to engage in one-on-one dialogue to unite the nation and move the country forward.
Chamisa rejected the outcome of the recent presidential election after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared Mnangagwa the winner with 52.6% of the votes.
Speaking in an interview with a local media house, Mukonori said Chamisa should be “courageous” to concede defeat and engage Mnangagwa in dialogue rather than embark on street protests as it will lead to the killing of innocent people. The Herald quoted Mukonori as saying:
The one who says I am not satisfied and I believe the elections were not free and fair should also have the courage, it takes courage for someone to say let us sit down and discuss, it takes wisdom, courage is wisdom.
It is essential for the two to sit down and discuss. Discussions are more difficult than toy-toying on the streets and it will get people killed.
They (discussions) are more difficult because they require thinking and it is an exercise that has no textbook and thinking requires someone who has to know how to think.
In 2018, the military shot dead six people in central Harare when MDC Alliance supporters took to the streets in protest of what they considered ZEC’s delay in announcing the results of the presidential election.
Meanwhile, Mukonori stated that it is not too late for Mnangagwa and Chamisa to engage in meaningful dialogue. He said:
We need that humility. It is only a lawyer who is called an educated person but there has to be a display to say indeed we are learned and therefore let us sit down and discuss.
I believe it is necessary, it is not too late to request the two sides, the winner and loser to say please can you sit down and discuss. There is a need for serious discussion.
The SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM) on Zimbabwe’s 2023 Harmonised Elections and other foreign observers said that the polls did not meet regional and international benchmarks to be deemed free and fair.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last week said SADC Heads of State will debate the contents of the SEOM’s final report and also hear representations from Zimbabwe as well as the SEOM.
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