Posted on 07/16/2006 5:20:58 PM PDT by blam
No need for witch doctors - I'm staying, says Mugabe
By Peta Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed: 17/07/2006)
President Robert Mugabe has ridiculed followers for consulting witch doctors to choose his successor, dismissing the suggestion that he is going to step down.
Robert Mugabe:cheers and laughter from the crowd
Shaking his fist, Mr Mugabe, 82, told Zanu PF leaders and party elders at a weekend "consultative" rally in the country's capital, Harare, that they should not rely on witchcraft to choose Zimbabwe's next president.
Mr Mugabe, who drew cheers and laughter from the crowd, told them: "The things we hear about succession, succession, succession. We hear lots of unbelievable stories about succession. We hear some people are consulting witch doctors, but the biggest witch doctor is the people of Zimbabwe. There is no need to consult witch doctors."
Nobody is sure whether Mr Mugabe, who has been in power since independence from Britain 26 years ago, will retire when his term of office expires in March 2008, or if he will fight another election.
There is intense lobbying and tension within Zanu PF over who will succeed him.
Jonathan Moyo, the former information minister who is now an independent MP and a political analyst, said yesterday: "He was trying to deal with an important matter in a frivolous way, but showed he is extremely agitated and knows he is cornered. He was also telling front-runners in Zanu PF that they should not kill each other for his position as president, as he is not going to leave office any time soon."
Mr Mugabe also accused party colleagues of corruption and of cheating on their wives. He told colleagues, including the vice-president, Joyce Mujuru, that they should stick to "one man, one wife".
He said: "Some men have several children and wives all over the place. If you get married at the magistrate's court it's one man, one wife. If you don't want that then do it the traditional way."
Mr Mugabe had two children with his present wife Grace, while still married to his first wife Sally, who died in 1992.
Ping.
I wouldn't count on sticking around for too long. The old fart is 82 years old and well past the average age of death for even the healtiest African.
Witch doctors?
"Ooh ee ooh ah ahh, ting tang walla walla bing bang,
Ooh ee ooh ah ahh, ting tang walla walla bing bang!"
(rest easy, Dave Seville)
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Is Africa a lost cause?? Is Europe?
Yup. It's gonna take a world wide Black Death or something to sort it all out.
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