- Title: Mugabe supporters stage "One Million Man" march to show unity
- Date: 25th May 2016
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED ZANU PF SUPPORTER, SAYING: "It's a solidarity march with our president, his Excellency President Mugabe. We stand with him, behind him, supporting his policy. It's just a reaffirmation of our commitment towards his leadership." ZANU PF SUPPORTERS SINGING AND DANCING AS THEY MARCH IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED ZANU PF SUPPORTER, SAYING: "This is not just a ZANU PF march, It's a national march where we see people, despite one's political affinity, coming together to support President Robert Mugabe's leadership." VARIOUS OF ZANU PF SUPPORTERS MARCHING IN STREET
- Embargoed: 9th June 2016 17:45
- Keywords: Robert Mugabe million man march Zimbabwe
- Location: HARARE, ZIMBABWE
- City: HARARE, ZIMBABWE
- Country: Zimbabwe
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0074JB4F2F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Thousands of people marched through Zimbabwe's capital Harare on Wednesday (May 25) in support of President Robert Mugabe as he denounced "treasonous" factions in his ZANU-PF party feuding over who should succeed the 92-year-old leader.
Mugabe is the only leader the southern African nation has known since independence from Britain in 1980. He has said he wants to live to 100 and remains fit, denying local media reports that he has prostate cancer.
As senior members of ZANU-PF manoeuvre for advantage in a post-Mugabe era, two factions have emerged, one linked to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and one to Mugabe's wife Grace.
"I am at the service of the people. If the people feel that I should go I go. But as long as I feel I can serve the people and I can do my best as I have done in the past, I will do my best, and when time comes fine I go," Mugabe told tens of thousands of faithful who gathered for a "One Million-Man" march in Harare.
First Lady Grace Mugabe told the crowd earlier that the veteran leader was irreplaceable and the unifying force in ZANU-PF who would continue to lead Zimbabwe even in death.
Mugabe said local private media calling on him to step down should "go hang", adding that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) also wanted him to resign because they feared he would defeat them again in elections.
Demonstrators were shipped in from all over Zimbabwe for the march, organised by the ZANU-PF's youth wing. They sang pro-Mugabe songs as they spilled out of buses in downtown Harare.
Mugabe's supporters call him an African icon who stands up to the West. Critics say he has ruined a once promising economy with policies such as the seizure and redistribution of white-owned commercial farms, which devastated agriculture. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None