Protest in Zimbabwe: US Summons Zanu-PF Spokesperson Over Comments

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Obiajulu Joel Nwolu

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The United states has summoned spokesman of the ruling Zanu-PF party in Zimbabwe after his disparaging comments about the US ambassador in Harare.

Patrick Chinamasa, spokesperson of the ruling Zanu-PF party, on Monday labeled US Ambassador Brian Nicholls “a thug” and threatened to expel him. He accused the US envoy of inciting anti-corruption protests in the country.

Tibor Nagy, top US diplomat for Africa said, “Comments from Zanu-PF — while sadly not surprising — are deeply offensive.”

“We have summoned the ambassador of Zimbabwe to explain,” he wrote on Twitter.

The administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been battling with a host of protesters who took to the streets after a call for demonstrations on July 31 in Zimbabwe.

In the course of cracking down, the government has arrested prominent documentary filmmaker Hopewell Chin’ono, who exposed a multimillion-dollar procurement of coronavirus supplies corruption scandal.

The United States has spoken out against the clampdown, Nagy had earlier asked Zimbabwe to “uphold the people’s constitutional rights to freedom of political expression and freedom of the press.”

Zimbabwe’s leaders have long made claims of foreign interference as the country strives to overcome accusations of corruption and a staggering economy that has been on decline.

Expectations in the United States for a change in fortune for Zimbabwe after the 2017 removal of veteran leader Robert Mugabe have withered.

In a rare meeting last year, Nagy encouraged Mnangagwa bring security personnel who clampdown on protesters to book.

Source: CGTN