In a statement, former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has revealed that he has fled the country after receiving death threats. He vows to return one day and lead the country and says “I will be communicating with you soon and shall return to Zimbabwe to lead you.” Mnangagwa was dismissed from his post as Vice President on Monday.
Part of the statement reads:
I would like my fellow citizens to know that I am now out of the country, and safe. My sudden departure was caused by incessant threats on my person, life and family by those who have attempted before through various forms of elimination including poisoning.
In the statement, Mnangagwa urges Zanu-PF members to rise up against President Robert Mugabe and his allies whom he accuses of being self-centered. Said Mnangagwa:
Fellow Zimbabweans and specifically members of Zanu-PF, the time is now to say NO to Demi Gods and people that are self-centered and only think of themselves and their families. Let us bury our differences and rebuild a new and prosperous Zimbabwe, a country that is tolerant to divergent views, a country that respects opinions of others, a country that does not isolate itself from the rest of the world because of one stubborn individual who believes he is entitled to rule this country until death.
There were reports that Mnangagwa was blocked from leaving the country after he was stopped from leaving Zimbabwe on the way to the Mozambican port city of Beira by police manning the Forbes Border Post in Mutare. Mnangagwa took the option to leave the country via Forbes Border Post after efforts to secure a private jet hit a snag. Sources told NewsDay that Mnangagwa’s allies spent the better part of Monday looking for a private jet. They advised him to travel to Buffalo Range in Triangle where arrangements had been made for him to be picked up by a jet supplied by a South African business associate but the jet never showed up.