President Robert Mugabe says an opposition win in Saturday’s tightly contested polls would be ”the greatest curse” for Zimbabwe.
Mugabe, who is battling for his political survival, called on opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters to ”come home” to his ruling Zanu-PF, the government-mouthpiece Herald reported on Tuesday.
Speaking at a rally Monday at the Hwange Colliery Stadium in Matabeleland North, the 84-year-old leader admitted the MDC would win some seats in the parliamentary elections, which are being held at the same time as presidential polls.
”Yes, they may win some seats, but they cannot win the majority of seats in Zimbabwe. Impossible!” he declared. ”That’s the greatest curse,” he added.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was leading Mugabe by eight points in a recent opinion poll, with 28,3% of voters polled against 20,3% for the veteran leader.
A third contender, former finance minister Simba Makoni, had nearly 8,6% of the vote, the poll said. The MDC leader has been running his campaign under the theme ”Morgan is more” and has emphasised family- and people-centred strategies the party will implement if elected into power.
Mugabe’s team also recently tried to emphasise the leader’s family credentials, running full-page pictures of a youthful Mugabe leaving his family to fight for Zimbabwe’s independence. The advert said he spent 11 years in prison away from his family during the country’s struggle for independence from white minority rule.
‘Africanisation’
Meanwhile, stung by recent criticism from churches in Zimbabwe ahead of the elections this weekend, Mugabe says the church must be ”Africanised”.
Churches must be run by Africans, he told members of the Apostolic sect in Bulawayo this weekend.
”Our people must be able to head even the old churches and perhaps the new ones also,” Mugabe said in comments carried by Tuesday’s Herald.
”We want to see the Africanisation of the church, which does not mean bringing in an African God because there is only one universal God, but [means] the running of the church,” he said.
The Apostolic church in Zimbabwe commands a large following and its white-robed members are a constant feature at Mugabe’s rallies. Other churches, though, have dared to speak out against perceived excesses and abuses by Mugabe and his government.
Last week the recently appointed Anglican bishop of Harare, Sebastian Bakare, suggested ”fundamental change” was needed in Saturday’s polls. Change is a slogan used by opposition candidates.
Despite the flight of many white Zimbabweans during the last eight years of economic turmoil, there are still a number of white pastors, clerics and missionaries operating in Zimbabwe, including those at churches like Harare’s wealthy Celebration Centre.
Mugabe has loyal and often-paraded clerical allies in the shape of Bakare’s predecessor, ousted Anglican bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who describes Mugabe as a prophet of God, and the Reverend Obadiah Msindo, who has appeared on state TV exhorting Zimbabweans to vote for Mugabe.
Msindo has a rape case pending against him.
At the church rally, the president promised the Apostolic church a nearby farm and a tarred road. — Sapa-dpa