Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa working with military ‘in order to survive’
MDC's David Coltart contradicts assertions by some senior military and government officials who claim president is reining in the army after deadly protests in January
Harare — President Emmerson Mnangagwa is working with the military to ensure his own survival, an opposition official said this week, dismissing the Zimbabwean leader’s criticism of the army’s heavy-handed approach in quelling riots over fuel prices in January. The protests — the worst since 1995 — ended after the military was deployed, firing on crowds and killing at least 17 people. Since then the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and human rights groups have said soldiers have been carrying out raids in poorer areas of the country’s biggest cities and have been accused of beatings and rapes. Mnangagwa, who became president after a military coup in 2017 ousted Robert Mugabe and then won an election, in 2018, said on January 22 that “heads will roll” if soldiers were guilty of misconduct. “Mnangagwa, like Mugabe, is primarily concerned with survival,” David Coltart, a lawyer and founding member of the MDC, said at an event hosted by the Free Market Foundation in Johan...
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