President Robert Mugabe accused Zimbabwe’s opposition of embarking on ”an evil crusade” as he stepped up claims on Wednesday that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is to blame for mounting violence.
”The MDC opposition, formed at the behest of Britain, is on an evil crusade of dividing our people along political lines as they continue to fan and sponsor heinous acts of political violence targeting innocent citizens,” Mugabe said at a graduation ceremony for police recruits.
”It is unfortunate that they have decided on violent means to instil fear into our peace-loving people.”
Zimbabwe has seen mounting levels of violence since disputed elections in March when the MDC won control of Parliament and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, beat Mugabe into second place in a simultaneous presidential poll.
With Tsvangirai falling just short of winning an outright majority in the first round, according to official results, the pair are now due to square up in a run-off poll on June 27.
Although the United Nations chief representative in Zimbabwe has said Mugabe’s supporters are to blame for the bulk of the violence, the president laid responsibility firmly at the feet of the MDC.
”MDC activists have furtively torched houses belonging to Zanu-PF supporters, destroying property worth trillions of dollars in the process,” he said.
”Let me warn all perpetrators of violence that the police force is here to preserve life, protect property, maintain law and order and apprehend criminals.
”It is the duty of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to ensure that all forms of civil commotion are nipped in the bud.”
In his speech, Mugabe also accused the opposition of rigging its way to victory in the election on March 29.
”Regrettably, underneath the peace that prevailed [before the election], there was a disturbing phenomena of massive electoral fraud that reared its ugly monstrous head,” he said.
”As investigations and court cases have shown, this emanated largely from unashamed efforts of opposition supporters aided by their international partners to achieve long-sought after goal of regime change.”
The MDC has claimed that Tsvangirai was only deprived of outright victory in the first round as a result of rigging by Mugabe, who is subject to Western sanctions after he allegedly fixed his re-election in 2002. — AFP
