Zimbabwe VP Mohadi: Zanu PF to Relinquish Power if Opposition Wins Forthcoming Elections
“If you lose, you lose and if you win, you win. Zanu PF does not have the power. The power is in the hands of the people of Zimbabwe. If people don’t vote for us, we will relinquish power. What can we do? People would have rejected us.”
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kembo Mohadi says Zanu PF will accept the results of the forthcoming general elections as that will be the will of the people of Zimbabwe. Speaking on the sidelines of a cultural ceremony in Gwanda South’s Gungwe area, Matabeleland South province, Mohadi said the outcome of the elections will not be changed by the ruling party “If you lose, you lose and if you win, you win. Zanu PF does not have the power. The power is in the hands of the people of Zimbabwe. If people don’t vote for us, we will relinquish power. What can we do? People would have rejected us.” He also noted that the ruling party is not in the hands of the military, which helped President Emmerson Mnangagwa to replace former president Robert Mugabe. “Zanu PF is not ruled by the army and is not part of the army. The party is not in the barracks. During Operation Restore Legacy (military intervention) it’s not the army that toppled the government. It was a people’s revolution and parliamentarians. Everybody wanted Mugabe to go. If it was a military coup he would have been locked up but that is not the case. He is at his home with his family. He was not given a torrid time by the army.” Mohadi further dismissed suggestions that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission may rig the forthcoming general polls, saying he is not aware of any methods that can be used by the ruling Zanu PF party to manipulate the election results. He said ZEC is a non-partisan entity which operations without any influence from the ruling party. He added that ZEC was set up following a public consultation process that also involved opposition parties. “I don’t know how elections are rigged as much as I don’t know how someone loses in an election. I really don’t know where people are getting this idea that Zanu PF will rig the elections. Polls are conducted by ZEC. There is no Zanu PF activist in ZEC. Where do people get this idea of election rigging? “We have seen a lot in the country and now we want the nation to record significant development and growth. We can only do this when we are united. There is no need to fight each other. We urge all Zimbabweans to go and vote peacefully.” Mohadi, who said he recently visited some Asian and European countries to update them on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, noted that many nations want to see a free, fair and credible election before they start helping the country to revamp its economy. “President Mnangagwa sent me to Asia and Europe to brief leaders about our government. Most leaders indicated that they are willing to help Zimbabwe if we hold free, fair and credible elections.” The West and some European nations imposed targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle following claims of human rights violations and election rigging.