SW Radio Africa (London)
Tichaona Sibanda
14 March 2008
The country's top cop, Augustine Chihuri, has said he will not allow 'puppets' to rule the country after the general elections in two weeks' time.
The police commissioner made the remarks Thursday at the Police General Headquarters in Harare, at a send off ceremony of nine police officers who are joining the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia.
Chihuri's comments come in the wake of similar threats issued by defence forces commander General Constantine Chiwenga, who last week vowed 'the army will not salute sell-outs and agents of the West before, during and after the presidential elections'.
Chiwenga's threats were preceded by similar remarks from the head of the country's Prison Service, Major-General Paradzai Zimondi, who said he would resign and 'go back to defend my piece of land' if Mugabe lost.
Chihuri's outburst is a direct reference to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and independent candidate, Simba Makoni, who have both been labelled 'puppets' by Robert Mugabe.
'Most of us here are truly owners of the land. This is the sovereignty we should defend at all costs because for us to get at this point others had to lose their lives. At this point our gains should never be reversed,'
Chihuri is reported to have said.
He continued; 'this time we are wiser and we are determined, and this must serve as warning to puppets. We will not allow any puppets to take charge. I am happy that Zimbabweans are wise.'
But a former senior police officer, Isaac Dziya castigated Chihuri saying the service chiefs were the ones who were puppets, because Mugabe was using them.
'Chihuri is a puppet, so is Chiwenga and Zimondi. What they are basically saying is that every Zimbabwean who votes for the opposition on March 29th is also a puppet because they also oppose Mugabe,' Dziya said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 SW Radio Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
