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Responding to questions from Midlands State University students soon after presenting a public lecture at the campus,
Minister Mnangagwa said the rumours were a strategy by Zimbabwe’s enemies and detractors who are always working on reversing the gains of independence.
“I was as surprised as you to learn that there was a pact between the President and myself to take over office. I also read about it in the Press. This is a strategy by our enemies, but we are too mature and intelligent as a nation to fall for that. We don’t read much into that,” he said.
Speculation fuelled by the so-called independent media and foreign media organisations suggested that President Mugabe was ill and was now working on an exit plan that would result in Minister Mnangagwa taking over the presidency.
However, a fit and healthy looking President Mugabe poured scorn on the rumours when he alighted from a plane from Singapore last week to be met by senior Government officials and Cabinet Ministers. Minister Mnangagwa dismissed the rumours as “wishful thinking” from Britain and its allies who seek to destabilise the nation.
“It is only a subject that exists in the minds of those who do not wish us well as a nation. There is really nothing to it. It’s just wishful thinking from our enemies. I rest my case,” said Minister Mnangagwa.
He was presenting a paper titled “Zimbabwe’s Defence Policy in Times of Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment.”
Minister Mnangagwa told the students that the country’s leadership, which brought political independence, was working tirelessly to deliver economic emancipation to its people.
“We want to make sure that before we die, we leave future generations in charge of our resources and mainstream economy. Even to those who are not so willing, we will force you to be empowered because our resources are God-given,” he said.
Minister Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe adopted the Look East Policy because its true friends were in that part of the world. He said one could only turn to close friends in times of difficulties, not to his or her oppressor.
“During the liberation struggle, we received military training in Russia and China, among other such countries. We did not engage the West or the United States because they were our oppressors and colonial masters. Again when we were hit by the illegal sanctions by the West, we sought our true friends once more and we have been receiving assistance. Even the West and the US are also looking to the East to prop their fledging economies,” said Minister Mnangagwa to a round of applause.
The minister said the West and the US were“international gangsters” who bullied countries that sought to defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He said when Zimbabwe embarked on the land reform programme, the West vainly tried to invoke Section Seven of the United Nations Security Council Act, which would have resulted in the invasion ofZimbabwe by Nato forces.
“That section is only invoked when a country is considered a threat to international peace. By embarking on the land reform programme, we were actually consolidating peace, not threatening international peace. Surprisingly, those who were pushing for the agenda are those who came here, not by invitation but by aggression, our erstwhile colonial masters,” said the Minister.
In Libya, he said, the West was after that country’s oil reserves and created a war that would justify their looting of the North African country’s oil.
Minister Mnangagwa said the West was busy pumping out Libyan oil willy-nilly while the Arab nation’s people were suffering.
“They are taking Libyan oil on the pretext of paying for war reparations, which war the Libyans did not invite. The West and the US are international gangsters who bully other nations that seek to empower their people. We have bullies on the planet, not only at learning institutions like MSU,” he said.
The Minister said laws like Posa and Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act were necessary, although they needed to be adjusted every now and then, just like any other piece of legislation.
He said when these laws were debated as bills and finally passed into law, all representatives of the political parties in Parliament, including the two MDCs were present.
The minister said therefore there was no reason to completely get rid of acts that came through Parliament.
“We can only amend here and there. We will create chaos if we were to say there are no more such governing rules. Imagine if your vice-chancellor was to say you attend lectures at whatever time you like, or write exams when you feel like…. there will be chaos,” he said.
Turning on retired army officials who sit on different boards of parastatals, Minister Mnangagwa said the retired officers were appointed on merit just like any other Zimbabwean. He said there was no law that stopped military officers from joining civilian life once they retire or civilians from joining the army, if they so wished.
“We do not import retired generals to sit on company boards. They are born and bred from you, the people. There is no law that forbids military personnel to be civilians when they retire and none that discourages civilians to join the army. If a retired general fails to run a company, it’s his responsibility, not that he is a retired army officer,” said Minister Mnangagwa.
A student had pointed out that the retired army officers were responsible for ruining parastatals and wanted to know whether the Government was doing anything to curb the “rot”.
Minister Mnangagwa said most of the challenges affecting Zimbabwean companies had to do with the illegal sanctions imposed by Britain and her allies.
He said the country had been under sanctions for 12 years and that has derailed development in the country.
“We have suffered for long. Some prefer to ‘zora butter’ by calling our suffering under sanctions restricted measures but we call a spade a spade. These are sanctions and they are hurting us. Our development is now lagging behind as a result of the sanctions,” he said.
On the topic of his paper, Minister Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe upheld fundamental principles and norms of peace, stability and tranquility as enshrined in the UN and AU charters. He said the country’s defence policy has always adhered to the strictest confines of the legal principles, precepts and normative rules of domestic and international laws.
Online Reporter