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Tekere warns of pre-election violence
HARARE - Firebrand nationalist, Edgar Tekere, has warned Zimbabweans of an escalating violence-ridden campaign in the period leading to next March's presidential and general elections.
The founding Zanu (PF) member said President Robert Mugabe would fight tooth and nail to retain power, and the current spate of abductions and torture of opposition officials would intensify in the run-up to the poll.
Tekere spoke as Mugabe called a special congress to endorse his candidacy as party leader and sole candidate for next year's presidential election. For the first time, the ruling party officially alluded to the Mujuru and Mnangagwa factions in Zanu (PF) and that they were embroiled in a bitter battle to succeed Mugabe.
Tekere said: "I think I know Mugabe fairly well. He doesn't like contests and when you stand against him he is going to fight tooth and nail."
The veteran politician was speaking in a telephone interview with The Zimbabwean from his Mutare home.
A former secretary-general of Zanu (PF), Tekere, who was once a close ally of Mugabe, was first expelled from the party in October 1988 for agitating against one-party state rule.
He formed the Zimbabwe Unity Movement and contested the 1990 presidential election, but lost to Mugabe. He resigned as ZUM president in January 2000.
He was reinstated into Zanu (PF) in 2005 but was fired again last year after publishing a highly controversial autobiography, A Lifetime of Struggle, insinuating that Mugabe was a reluctant recruit into the liberation struggle.
Tekere said Mugabe, 83, had boasted of having degrees in violence and openly said opposition officials "vakadashurwa (were battered)" and that they will be "bashed" again if they provoke police.
He said: "There is going to be lots and lots of violence sponsored by the Head of State, make no mistake about it."
He said Zanu (PF) would unleash violence during the campaign period, which would then be toned down just before polling to hoodwink international observers.
Tekere said: "They will have broken your ribs and expect you to remember that on polling day."
He said because rigging elections had become difficult over the last decade, the ruling party would compensate for that through violence.
"You are dealing with a man who believes there is no Zimbabwe without him. One day he is going to die, but he doesn't think Zimbabwe will continue after him. All affairs of state start and finish with Mugabe," Tekere said.
He dismissed the possibility of a military coup in the event of Mugabe losing to the opposition.
He said: "One who is very outspoken on the issue is Didymus Mutasa, my uncle. Don't be deceived by him. The army will comply with the result. You only hear that from people like Mutasa. Have you ever heard it from the real masters of war, Rex Nhongo or Vitalis Zvinavashe?"
Rex Nhongo was the nom de guerre of General Solomon Mujuru - the powerful husband of Vice President Joice Mujuru - a retired commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, during the liberation war when he was Zanla's chief of operations. General Zvinavashe is the past immediate commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, now Gutu Senator.
Mutasa, who is Zanu PF's secretary for admistration, is on record as saying Zanu (PF) would go to war if it lost the presidential election.
"There is going to be no such thing, I can tell you quite confidently," Tekere said.
He said youths were being trained under the guise of national service primarily to beat up the electorate.
Scores of people have been killed, mostly supporters of opposition parties, while more than 600 people have been tortured for sympathising with the opposition since March 11, according to opposition figures.
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