Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday claimed that his government was under attack from domestic and foreign forces as he responded to allegations of human rights abuses by the government.
Mnangagwa, who addressed the nation in a speech to mark Heroes’ Day, termed the accusations against his government as “unjustified attacks” by Zimbabwe’s “perennial detractors”.
“The divisive falsehoods and concoctions by renegades and supremacists who want to pounce on our natural resources will never win the day. Truth shall triumph over lies, and good over evil,” Mnangagwa said.
Human rights groups have raised concerns over recent developments in Zimbabwe including the arrest and detention of a journalist and an opposition leader in the wake of public outrage over corruption following revelations of a multi-million dollar corruption scandal at the Ministry of Health.
Last month, Mnangagwa announced that security forces will implement a dusk to dawn curfew to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, critics and opposition leaders argued that the move was to prevent anti-government protests and silence dissent.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC), Southern Africa’s development bloc, has also come under increasing pressure to take action against Zimbabwe in light of those events.
Zimbabweans have grown increasingly frustrated with the direction the country has taken since the ousting of longtime leader Robert Mugabe in 2017 following a military takeover and days of civilian protests.
Mnangagwa, who succeeded Mugabe, has faced a number of political and socio-economic challenges in the subsequent years.
The country’s economy, already facing one of its worst crises in decades, is grappling with runaway inflation and spiralling commodity and fuel prices amidst a food shortage. Additionally, the nation’s public sector has faced a number of strikes, particularly by medics due to low salaries and poor working conditions.
Even as the government struggles to address all these problems, it still has to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the beginning of the month, Mnangagwa appealed to Zimbabweans to uphold peace and shun violence for the development of the country.
