Deputy Chief Secretary-Presidential Communications in the Office of the President, George Charamba has said President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office never got any letters from MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa regarding the mooted national dialogue.
Charamba also said Mnangagwa was not even aware of emissaries that the MDC Alliance president sent to the president’s office.
This comes after Chamisa Thursday said he had written several letters and also sent a number of emissaries to Mnangagwa on the need for national dialogue – but to no avail thus far.
Speaking on Saturday to the Daily News on Sunday, Charamba said Chamisa’ claims were completely untrue. He said:
We are not in receipt of any letter from Chamisa at all. We are also not aware of any emissaries that he has sent to us. That’s completely untrue.
Charamba said Mnangagwa remained ready to engage in dialogue with the opposition and other key stakeholders.
He however warned Chamisa that he will not receive special treatment and should join the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD).
Charamba further asserted that Chamisa and the MDC Alliance’s weakness and unreasonableness were exposed by their “politicking” on the 2018 elections. He said:
We have been ready from the first day after the results of the elections were announced in 2018.
We proceeded not just to offer him (Chamisa) recognition, we also made available a platform — the political actors dialogue (Polad) — for engaging him alongside all other politicians.
But we don’t engage Chamisa to rescue his world that is collapsing, we engage Chamisa for the national good.
We have been forced into election mode from the day after the 2018 election, and this is much regrettable … Creating Polad was to de-escalate electoral politics, but Chamisa decided not to join.
They thought that there is a magic wand in continued politicking electorally over a closed matter, without realising it could only underline their weaknesses and unreasonableness.
The dialogue is proceeding and engagement is happening every day.