Army threatens coup if Mugabe loses

Army threatens coup if Mugabe loses

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By Fikile Mapala

ZIMBABWE’S army commander on Sunday threatened to overturn the constitutional order if President Robert Mugabe loses elections to “sell-outs” and “agents of the West” on March 29.

General Constantine Chiwenga, the commander of Zimbabwe’s Defence Forces, told a newspaper that there was “nothing wrong” with the army supporting Mugabe, who is seeking a sixth term.

"Elections are coming and the army will not support or salute sell-outs and agents of the West before, during and after the presidential elections," Chiwenga was quoted as saying by the privately-owned Standard newspaper.

"We will not support anyone other than President Mugabe who has sacrificed a lot for the country."
Asked about the role of the army in a democracy, Chiwenga responded angrily: "Are you mad? What is wrong with the army supporting the President against the election of sell-outs?"

The Standard said in the middle of the telephone interview with the army chief, a woman – believed to be Chiwenga’s wife, Jocelyn -- grabbed the phone and said: “We can come and take you, and deal with you.”

Jocelyn Chiwenga confronted opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai inside a supermarket in August last year, yelling: “I want to take away your manhood.”

President Mugabe faces his former finance minister Simba Makoni and Tsvangirai in the watershed elections which will also see Zimbabweans elect new MPs, senators and councillors on the same day.

Mugabe, 84, has already labelled Makoni and Tsvangirai “prostitutes, witches and British stooges”.

Chiwenga’s threats echo similar sentiment expressed by the head of Zimbabwe’s Prisons Service, Rtd Major Paradzai Zimondi, who said he would resign to “go back to defend my piece of land” if Mugabe loses power.

Zimondi claimed an opposition victory will hand back control of seized land back to white farmers, which Makoni and Tsvangirai both reject.

"No empowerment is more than the land we got,” Zimondi charged, “If you let the country go, God will not help you anymore; and when you die, you will go to hell for failing to defend your land against your enemies.”

Retired army general Vitalis Zvinavashe also made similar threats on the eve of the 2002 presidential elections, saying he would not salute Tsvangirai, who was Mugabe’s main challenger then.

The MDC has condemned the threats to overturn the constitutional order by army bosses.

An MDC statement said: “The MDC believes it is a flagrant affront to the Constitution of Zimbabwe for a service chief to tell uniformed officers to vote for a particular candidate in an election. There is no doubt that we have become a banana republic where the collective will of the people is not respected.”

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