Fight America not me; ‘drunk’ Bob to foes

Speaking under the influence? … President Mugabe (3rd from left) shares
traditional beer with locals in Masvingo (picture credit Zimpapers)

The 92-year-old leader opined about the role of rivals while addressing supporters at a rally in Masvingo last Friday.

A claimed teetotaler, Mugabe spoke after sharing a calabash of the traditional 7-day brew with villagers while paying his respects to the late Chief Gutu – an uncle of his – who died in 2013.

“You never hear any of the opposition parties saying we don’t want our country to return to white rule,” said the veteran leader who believes Western countries are working to recolonise Zimbabwe.

“None of them; whether it’s MDC-T, MDC – Z or Simba Makoni’s Sun Rise – what is it called by the way? Or even this other party calling itself People First.

“You never hear them saying we don’t want foreign interference in our internal affairs.”

He continued: “They never criticise the Americans and the British.

“All they do is fight Zanu PF. What have we done wrong – bringing freedom to the country?”

Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, refuses culpability for the country’s problems.

Zimbabwe has struggled with a serious economic crisis for some 15 years which critics blame on the veteran leader’s misrule.

Mugabe, instead blames sanctions imposed by Western countries following allegations of gross human rights abuses and electoral fraud.

“Today we are under sanctions and we ask the Americans why they are fighting us,” he said Friday.

“We do not want anything from the West. If they don’t want to have any relations with us, fair enough but why punish us with sanctions?

“Why should the West be angered by the fact that we took back our land; that we want to be in charge of our affairs and resources?”

The European Union (EU) has since lifted most of its sanctions, with just Mugabe and his wife, Grace, still subject to a travel ban.

Washington however refuses to recant, with Obama’s administration recently insisting that the Mugabe regime remains a threat to America’s foreign policy interests.