Publications
Partners
Cape Town – A Zimbabwean prophet has reportedly warned Zimbabweans not to engage in mass demonstrations, saying such protests would result in bloodshed.
The prophet, Emmanuel Makandiwa, said God had revealed to him that demonstrations would trigger unrest in the southern African country, The Herald reported on Thursday.
Makandiwa's prophecy comes a few days after Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai told eNCA's 360 Degrees that his party was working on strategies to force President Robert Mugabe's government to address the country's economic woes, according to The Standard.
Tsvangirai said the country's free falling economy would likely push the election dates closer than 2018.
Previous anti-Mugabe protests
Zimbabwe has been battling economic hardships, which have seen thousands lose their jobs.
MDC spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said the party leadership, including Tsvangirai, would be on the frontline during the street protests to show that it (the party) was not setting up its supporters.
Mwonzora said the modalities for the protests would be finalised after the party's congress in October.
Previous anti-Mugabe protests - the last one in 2007 - were met by heavy police and military resistance, but the MDC said the veteran leader would be making a mistake by setting security forces against the public.
"Let him be warned that if we cannot live as free men and women in our country of birth, we will rather die as free people," Tsvangirai was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.
'Meaningful political force'
Meanwhile, New Zimbabwe.com reports that a UK academic and Zimbabwe watcher Professor Stephen Chan says Morgan Tsvangirai's time as a "meaningful political force" is over, saying that Zanu-PF is set to win the 2018 general election.
Tsvangirai’s political prospects have been mortally wounded by a combination of his inept campaign for last year's elections, the MDC party's split after the vote, infighting in the faction he leads as well as the cutting of financial support by the West, the report said.
The MDC splilt into two after Tsvangirai rejected calls to resign following the 2013 electoral disaster which the former trade unionist blames on cheating by Zanu-PF. However he failed to prove this in court.
One faction has stuck with Tsvangirai while a group disaffected with him has left under the leadership of Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma, who was energy minister in the coalition government.
