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saying this has brought positive developments to the country.
Minister Mnangagwa said this in an interview over the weekend with a British newspaper, adding negative publicity and Western imposed illegal sanctions had affected the country’s economy.
“It is more than two-and-a-half years since we established the inclusive Government, and a lot of things have happened that are positive.
“Among them is that we discovered that our differences with our opponents are not that serious, and that we can work together without too many problems in Cabinet as well as in government generally.
“Since then there has been peace in the country, and the economy, which had really gone down very seriously, has recovered. Industry and agriculture are also in the process of recovering, and there is a vibrant mining sector,” he said.
EMMERSON MNANGAGWA
The inclusive Government was formed in 2008 after Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations signed the Global Political Agreement.
Minister Mnangagwa said despite these positive developments the West had been unwilling to remove the illegal sanctions.
“All three political parties in Zimbabwe have agreed to campaign for their removal, but so far we have drawn blanks on this matter from Brussels and London. It seems they are still inclined to impose sanctions on us.
“There are also still foreign broadcasts into Zimbabwe in our local languages that are spreading hate speech, which agitate for regime change,” he said.
Western Governments have continued to fund pirate radio stations that broadcast hate messages into Zimbabwe in contravention of the GPA provisions.
On the issue of elections Minister Mnangagwa said they were likely to be held in February next year.
“This is not set in stone, but assuming that a referendum on a new constitution is held and accepted, then the time frame for elections after that is a period of four months.
“If we were to have a referendum in October, then we would be looking at February for an election,” he said.
Zimbabwe, the minister said, wanted to have free and fair elections and said recent events have shown that it was the MDC-T that had an inclination towards violent.
“I can assure you that the people of Zimbabwe are more concerned that the elections are free and fair than anyone in London or elsewhere, and we want to do everything to achieve that. The perception that Zanu-PF is violent is wrong. It is more and more apparent that it is not us, but the MDC-T who is like that – recently some of their representatives were arrested in Harare for killing a policeman,” he said.
Statistics from the Zimbabwe Republic Police have also shown that the MDC-T is behind most cases of political violence in the country.
Minister Mnangagwa said while he had respect for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as an individual the influence of the West in his party worked against him.
“We have seen in the past that his organisation has had foreign funding, which does not go down well here, and also received reports that he has consulted in the past with US and British diplomats, which again works against him.
“But while I have been Minister of Defence, I have found him a very sound, sober person, and have had no problem with him,” he said.
He also defended the land reform programme saying it was justified since white settlers had forcibly removed indigenous blacks from their land during the colonial era.
Minister Mnangagwa said at independence the new Government came up with a policy of reconciliation to promote peace and unity among Zimbabweans.
He denied continued speculation linking him to succeeding President Mugabe and refuted allegations that he wielded enormous power in the affairs of the country.
“You are the first person to ask me these kind of questions, but I don’t really know where any of this kind of stuff comes from at all. I am number 12 in the party, not number two, and am just a very humble person. I have no ambitions to be president. People speculate left right and centre but we have a structure in our party with a president and two vice-presidents. The leadership has to come out of that group, and I am not part of it. I just wish a legacy of peace, prosperity and growth for the younger generation,” he said.
Online Reporter