'Bob, we want you to be president even in your grave'

26 May 2016 - 09:10 By NHLALO NDABA

President Robert Mugabe should rule Zimbabwe even from beyond the grave, his wife declared yesterday. Sharing a public platform with her husband in Harare yesterday after a ''Million Man March'' of tens of thousands of people, organised by Zanu-PF's youth league to show its faith in the 92-year-old president, Grace Mugabe made it clear he would be around, and in charge, for a long time.''President, we want you to be president even in your grave. You are irreplaceable,'' she said.Borrowing from the Bible, she declared: ''God knew you and set you apart . appointed you prophet to the nations.''After a performance by superstar Oliver Mtukudzi, high praise from a string of party leaders and a prayer from a pastor, Mugabe took to the podium and described those pushing for his ouster as ''treasonous little groups''."It is for the people of Zimbabwe to decide, it's for the ruling party to decide. When the time comes I will go,'' said Mugabe.As senior Zanu -PF members manoeuvre for advantage in a post-Mugabe era, two factions have emerged, one linked to Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the other to wife Grace."There should never be little groups to promote so-and-so,'' Mugabe said. ''Those little groups are treasonous, they spoil the party. Let us not hear discordant voices. All this thing about factions is new to us, it destabilises the party." He described the march as a "great revolutionary act" by the Zanu-PF youth.Mugabe said local private media calling on him to step down should "go hang", adding that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change also wanted him to resign because they feared he would defeat them again.MDC spokesman Obert Gutu said the march was an attempt to paper over Zanu-PF's disintegration. "[Most] Zimbabweans live in grinding poverty and are not happy. So Zanu-PF wants to divert people's attention from the collapsing economy and to massage Robert Mugabe's ego," he said. - Additional reporting by Reuters..

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