Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF youths are planning a one million men march in support of President Robert Mugabe, as he faces mounting pressure from the country’s freedom fighters, who allegedly want him to act against one of the party’s powerful factions known as the Generation 40 (G40), reports NewsDay.
The march was slated for the first week of May, with the youth league saying that they would be mobilising at least 100 000 young people from each of the country’s 10 provinces.
The G40, which was believed to be aligned to First Lady, Grace Mugabe, was presumably calling the shots in the ruling party.
A former minister in Mugabe’s government, Christopher Mutsvangwa recently lambasted the group, accusing it of “holding” the nonagenarian as a “prisoner”.
Mutsvangwa claimed that the G40 was barring Mugabe, 92, from meeting with the country’s former liberation fighters.
Reports indicated that the war veterans were backing beleaguered Deputy President Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over when President Mugabe finally left the office.
But, the powerful G40 group seemed determined to block Mnangagwa’s rise into the presidency.
The Zanu-PF youth league deputy secretary, Kudzai Chipanga said the one million youths would storm Harare in defence of Mugabe.
Chipanga was adamant that they were people who were plotting to remove Mugabe, but as the youth league, they were not going to let that happen.
“We have individuals in Zanu-PF from some affiliated associations, who are saying rubbish things, anticipating President Mugabe’s death, for them to take power. He (Mugabe) was elected by the people and, therefore, no one will ever dare to remove him,” Chipanga was quoted as saying.
Chipanga’s utterances came a few days after Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Mandi Chimene claimed that the country’s former freedom fighters were plotting to oust Mugabe.
Source – News24
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