Skip to main content

Robert Mugabe Thankful for Absence of Islam in ‘Highly Developed’ Zimbabwe


Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has blamed Islam for the violence plaguing many African countries.
The 93-year-old Mugabe was on a panel discussing fragile states at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban, South Africa on Thursday when he said some countries on the continent are destabilized by religious influences, News 24 reported.
After stating that splits within the Christian church did not lead to violence, Mugabe said: “In the Islamic world, the belief is that the more violence you exert on the population, the more they listen.
“In Africa you also had a touch of the Muslim world in some countries, but in the south it wasn’t our experience, thank God,” he said.
Nearly 84.5 percent of Zimbabwe’s population of 15.6 million people is Christian with an estimated 1 percent Muslim, according to the 2015 International Religious Freedom Report by the U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
The Islamic Welfare Organization based in the capital Harare has not responded to a request for comment on Mugabe’s remarks.  
Mugabe also denied Thursday that Zimbabwe was a fragile state.
“Zimbabwe is the most highly developed country in Africa. After South Africa, I want to see another country as highly developed,” he said.  
Mugabe added that Zimbabwe has 14 universities and that the country’s literacy rate is above 90 percent.
“And yet they talk about us as a fragile state,” Mugabe said. “We have a bumper harvest, not only maize, but also tobacco and many other crops. We are not a poor country. If anyone wants to call us fragile, they can. You can also call America fragile.”
Mugabe, who has ruled the country for 37 years, acknowledged last year that Zimbabwe was in the midst of a financial crisis and said the country was in a “critical time... for regime change,” according to the African News Agency.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jailbreak: FG pledges to relocate correctional centers

  Jailbreak: FG pledges to relocate correctional centers Published   on   April 26, 2024 By   Esther Chisom Tunji-Ojo made the pledge when he visited the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre. DAILY POST recalls that 119 inmates escaped from the prison following a rainstorm that damaged the facility on Wednesday. The minister said it was imperative to relocate a lot of the correctional centres to a more conducive environment. “This facility was built in 1914 to house 250 inmates; before this incident, we had 499. “This is a testimony to what we keep talking about the overcrowding of our correctional centres. “You can look at the environment, it shows that we need to relocate them away from city centres to create better space, better security, and better infrastructure,” he said in a statement issued in Abuja by the Director of Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Mr Ozoya Imohimi. Tunji-Ojo said the ministry is already working behind the scenes to build a be...

FG set to deploy first batch of CNG vehicles ahead of Tinubu's one year in office come 29th May 2024

  FG announce plans to deploy the first batch of CNG Vehicles ahead of first anniversary of Tinubu in office on May 29th 2024. Said N100 billion was allocated to purchase 5,500 CNG vehicles, 100 electric buses, and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits. Deployment of CNG vehicles is parts of FG’s vision to have at least one million natural gas propelled vehicles on the roads by 2027. The Federal Government has announced plans to start the deployment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses and tricycles   for mass transit ahead of Tinubu administration’s first anniversary on May 29th. The move was disclosed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Sunday April 21st 2024. According to him, the Federal Government allocated N100 billion last year to purchase 5,500 CNG-powered vehicles (buses and tricycles), 100 electric buses, and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits. The funding, which is part of the N500 billion palliative budget, a...

Jonathan Opens Up: "Why I Don’t Want To Testify For Metuh"

An application filed by former President Goodluck Jonathan before the Federal High Court in Abuja has revealed further reasons why he wants to be excused from appearing as a witness in defence of a former National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh. Metuh is standing trial on charges involving, among others, the N400m he (Metuh) received from the Office of the National Security Adviser in 2014. The former President in his motion challenging the subpoena issued on him, stated that with “with several attempts by some persons in the current dispensation, to harass, intimidate and rubbish” his reputation and that of his wife, the witness summon issued on him upon Metuh’s request was a ploy to drag his name in the mud. He also argued in the motion filed on his behalf by his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), on Monday, that his testimony being sought in Metuh’s trial, would not only amount to an invasion of his right to privacy, it would also expose him to a cri...