On the other hand, CAP led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent each, to close at N28.35 per share.Mutual Benefit Assurance followed with a decline of 8.82 per cent to close at 31kobo, while Seplat Petroleum Development Company appreciated by 8.45 per cent to close at N650, per share.Sovereign Trust Insurance declined by eight per cent to close at 23kobo, and AXA Mansard Insurance shed 4.80 per cent to close at N2.38 per share.

The total volume traded rose by 36.07 per cent to 248.05 million shares, worth N2.25billion, traded in 3,932 deals.Transactions in the shares of Wema Bank topped the activity chart with 53.5 million shares valued at N37.45million. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with 23.42 million shares worth N925.45million.UBA traded 22.19 million shares valued at N214million. Diamond Bank traded 16.93 million shares valued at N21.21million, while United Capital transacted 14.23 million shares worth N43.23million.

In a letter read by Senate President Bukola Saraki to senators at the commencement of yesterday’s session, Buhari asked that the sum of N228,854 billion of the N578,319 billion worth of projects ‘inserted’ by the National Assembly into the 2018 budget be vired or converted for the purpose of funding the election.

This will also fund N64,749 billion worth of critical projects, which the assembly had earlier cut off from the budget.

The letter, tagged, ‘Request for Virement and Supplementary 2018 Budget’, reads: “As you are aware, the 2019 general election is scheduled to be conducted early in 2019.

To ensure that adequate arrangements are made for free and fair elections, it has become necessary to appropriate funds to enable the relevant agencies to commence preparations. INEC and the security agencies have accordingly recently submitted their requests.

These have been subjected to the usual budget evaluation. The aggregate cost of the elections is estimated at N242,445,322,600.00.”

He added: “In the light of prevailing fiscal constraints, I am proposing that the sum of N164,104,792,065.00 be provided for through virement or supplementation of the 2018 budget.

I propose that the balance of N78,340,530.535.00, mostly related to personnel allowances, fueling and other costs not required until the election proper, be provided in the 2019 budget.”

Meanwhile, in a keynote address he delivered yesterday on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague, Holland, Buhari restated his administration’s commitment to doing “everything possible to ensure that Nigeria witnesses the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections in 2019.”

The only president invited to the event marking the adoption of the ICC Rome Statute, he said: “Contrary to the tragic incidents that characterised the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, which necessitated preliminary investigations by the International Criminal Court, I assure you that all hands are on deck to prevent any recurrence of such tragic incidents.

These could include serious cases of corruption by state actors that severely compromise the development efforts of countries and throw citizens into greater poverty.

These could also include cases of illicit financial flows where countries are complicit and obstruct repatriation of stolen assets. As the African Union Champion on Anti-corruption, these are issues dear to my heart.”

He said Nigeria’s untiring cooperation and support for the court was “borne out of our strong belief in the respect for the rule of law and human rights, and in our firm commitment to the sanctity of fundamental freedoms at international and domestic levels, as ingrained in the objectives for establishing the Court.”

He said Nigeria has demonstrated its confidence in the court by “full and transparent cooperation” on matters on which it is being investigated and in “several country statements at the sessions of the Court.”

Buhari advised the court to “take on board all constructive criticisms and allay lingering fears and concern through targeted messaging, awareness raising and possible modification of some legal provisions.”

“If properly articulated, communication and awareness raising would engender trust and encourage greater cooperation of Member States with the Court and even encourage non-Member States to decide to become Members.

It must avoid even a hint of bias or political motivations.”

Urging states that have not done so to accede to the Rome Statute of the ICC, so that it can become a universal treaty, Buhari said: “The goals and responsibilities of the Court are no doubt very challenging and daunting.

But with the cooperation of all, coupled with the high calibre of judges and staff of the Court, the challenges are not insurmountable.

I, therefore, urge all States not to politicize the decisions of the Court but to always bear in mind the rationale for the establishment of the Court in the first place.”

He congratulated Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji on his election as President of the ICC, describing him as “a cherished son of Nigeria.”

Over 25 high-level state officials attended the event. They included the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, O-Gon Kwon; ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, ICC Registrar Peter Lewis, UN Legal Counsel Miguel de Serpa Soares and others.

But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seized the opportunity of the visit to highlight alleged rights abuses in Nigeria, asking the ICC to quiz Buhari.

In a statement released Monday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, it noted “the globally documented abuse of human rights in Nigeria, particularly, the U.S. Department of State 2017 Human Right Report, which catalogued issues of extrajudicial and arbitrary killings; disappearances and arbitrary detentions and torture, particularly in detention facilities in Nigeria under this administration.”

The party charged Buhari to report his administration to the court over alleged crimes against humanity and killings under his government.

It recalled it had earlier filed a petition at the United Nations against the president over alleged rights violations in the country, stressing: “What the Presidency seeks to hide from Nigerians is that the ICC Rome Statute deals directly with critical issues of crime against humanity and genocide, which are already prevalent in Nigeria under President Buhari’s watch.”

]]> http://bartonheyman.com/world-update-russia-investigator-mueller-interviewed-cia-chief/ Fri, 13 Apr 2018 09:21:59 +0000 http://bartonheyman.com/?p=5076 […]]]> CIA director and secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo said Thursday that he had been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating links between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election.

Pompeo, who reportedly had been asked by President Donald Trump to intervene in the Russia probe, confirmed the Mueller interview during a hearing into his nomination to become US secretary of state.

“I spoke with Special Counsel Mueller who interviewed me, requested an interview,” he said. “I cooperated.”

But he refused to give details.

Last year, The Washington Post reported that in a March 2017 White House meeting, Trump asked Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to try to get the FBI to back off of an investigation into Trump’s former national security advisor Mike Flynn.

Flynn has since been indicted by Mueller for lying about his contacts with Russians.

Coats later reported that conversation with other officials, and decided that it would be improper to intervene with the FBI, according to the Post.

According to separate reports, Pompeo was later among several senior administration officials asked by Trump to contact media on his behalf to defend his image.

Pompeo, who after 15 months at the Central intelligence Agency was nominated by Trump to replace secretary of state Rex Tillerson, declined to give details of his conversations with Mueller investigators, or confirm any discussions with Trump on the Russia probe.

“I have cooperated with multiple investigations,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I think it’s most important that while these investigations continue, I not speak to the conversations I have had with the various investigative bodies.”

The former wife of Nelson Mandela died in a Johannesburg hospital on Monday, mourned by many who praised her as one of the most charismatic and energetic activists who fought white-minority rule.

Her convictions for kidnapping and fraud, and her reputation for overseeing brutal gang violence in black townships, were largely brushed aside by eulogies of her bravery, independence and integrity.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who described her as “an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free”, confirmed that a memorial service would be held on April 11 and an official funeral on April 14.

Zweli Mkhize, a senior minister in the African National Congress (ANC) party government, said Winnie Mandela’s death marked “the end of an era” as she was a leading stalwart from the darkest days of the anti-apartheid struggle.

“We are losing the last few of those very committed freedom fighters and I think all we have to do is to always take lessons from her life,” Mkhize said outside Winnie Mandela’s house in Soweto where she lived for decades.

“When she had to face the apartheid government, she was fearless — but also among ourselves she was never shy to criticise.”

‘Not allow racists to insult her’
The outspoken leader of the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party Julius Malema, who became a confidant of Winnie Mandela in recent years, was also among mourners at her modest two-storey red brick home on Tuesday.

“Because (she) was living among her people, and never betrayed her people, they gave her the title of the ‘Mother of the nation,’” he said.

“We are here to celebrate the life of a person who has never looked down on black people and the poor masses.”

Malema attacked those who criticised her chequered past, saying that “the least we can do is defend her in death and not allow the racists to insult her”.

“They fear her even in death — that is why they continue to call her names, that is why they continue to characterise her in a manner that we do not know.”

The ANC’s Women’s League, which Winnie Mandela once led, will stage a mass march to her home on Wednesday.

The firebrand activist died peacefully in Johannesburg’s Milpark hospital on Monday, her family said, adding that she was “was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against Apartheid”.

A marriage apart
Most of Winnie Mandela’s 38-year marriage to Nelson was spent apart, with Nelson imprisoned for 27 years, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone and to keep alive his political dream.

Glamorous and tough, she played a high-profile role in the battle to end repressive white-minority rule.

But her reputation came under damaging scrutiny in the later years of apartheid rule.

In 1986, she was widely linked to “necklacing”, the burning alive of suspected traitors who had flaming, petrol-soaked tyres forced over their heads.

In 1990 the world watched when Nelson Mandela finally walked free from prison — hand-in-hand with Winnie.

The following year, she was convicted of kidnapping and assault over the killing of Stompie Moeketsi, a 14-year-old boy.

In 1992, the Mandelas separated, and then divorced in 1996, after a legal wrangle that revealed she had an affair with a young bodyguard.

In 2003, she was found guilty of theft and fraud over bank loans.

During her old age, she re-emerged as a respected elder who was feted as a living reminder of the late Mandela — and of the long and celebrated struggle against apartheid.

Nobel laureate archbishop Desmond Tutu described her as “a defining symbol” of the battle against oppression.

“She refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband, the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment,” Tutu said.

“Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists.”

South Sudan this week got yet another finance minister as it struggles to halt the free fall of a war-ravaged economy, but analysts warn prospects are bleak as long as conflict and corruption go unaddressed. 

President Salva Kiir named Salvatore Garang Mabiordit, a former undersecretary in the finance ministry, to head the portfolio after sacking Stephen Dhieu Dau on Tuesday.

“We have lost the value of our currency… this is a challenge that is ahead of you and you must see very hard how to get out of this,” Kiir told Garang at his swearing-in ceremony.

Garang is the fifth finance minister since the oil-rich nation achieved independence in 2011.

After more than four years of civil war, the government is broke and hyperinflation — which peaked at around 500 percent in 2016, decelerating to 155 percent in 2017 — has sent prices soaring.

While at the start of the conflict in 2013 a US dollar was worth five South Sudanese pounds, today it is equivalent to 240 South Sudanese pounds.

A 50-kilogramme sack of flour, which cost 120 South Sudanese pounds before the outbreak of the conflict, is now 7,000 pounds — roughly double the monthly salary of a senior civil servant.

‘The revenue is not there’
A drop in oil prices, combined with conflict in oil-producing areas, has severely impacted revenues in South Sudan, the most oil-dependant country in the world.

Economists say that Kiir’s habit of re-shuffling finance ministers has often misfired, recycling politicians accused of corruption, and failed to address the real problem.

“If you want to control the economy, you have to address the spillovers of the war, the insecurity that results in lack of confidence on the part of the private sector and development partners,” said Kimo Adiebo, an economics professor at the University of Juba.

“Most of the budget has been going to the security sector, more than 50 percent. So even if you change (ministers) and these other parameters have not been addressed, it is very difficult to control the economy overnight.”

Oil production has dropped to about 120,000 barrels a day, from a peak of 350,000 barrels before independence, according to the World Bank.

At the same time security-related spending has risen, increasing the fiscal deficit and sending inflation soaring.

Last month, United Nations agencies in South Sudan warned that 5.3 million people — about half of the population — were in dire need of food aid.

Economists told AFP that Dhieu had tried to clean up the finance ministry and clamp down on corrupt practices, and had stopped issuing money to officials to travel abroad.

Shortly before he was fired he suspended a top finance ministry official on suspicion of embezzling 317 million South Sudanese pounds.

Augustino Ting Mayay, an analyst with South Sudan’s Sudd Institute thinktank highlighted the difficulties facing Garang.

“The revenue that the country needs to operate is not there. You have civil servants not being paid for months. You have corruption that plagues the economy and the ministry of petroleum is littered with that,” he told AFP.

Earlier this month, an investigation by watchdog group The Sentry showed how South Sudan’s elite was using funds from state oil company, Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet), to “fund militias responsible for horrific acts of violence” and enrich themselves.

The probe revealed that more than $80 million (almost 65 million euros) was paid to politicians, military officials, government agencies, and companies owned by politicians and members of their families, for services such as military transport and logistics to forces implicated in atrocities.

]]> http://bartonheyman.com/world-update-two-koreas-to-hold-summit-north-ready-for-denuclearisation-talks/ Wed, 07 Mar 2018 12:16:43 +0000 http://bartonheyman.com/?p=4927 […]]]> The leaders of North and South Korea will hold a historic summit in the Demilitarized Zone next month after Pyongyang expressed willingness to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees, Seoul said Tuesday.

The North is open to “frank” talks with the United States on denuclearisation and would suspend missile and nuclear tests while dialogue was under way, the South’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong said after returning from a meeting in Pyongyang with leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea is subject to multiple rounds of UN Security Council sanctions over its atomic and ballistic missile programmes, and has long insisted that its “treasured sword” is not up for negotiation.

But it is willing to abandon the programmes if its national security — and that of its leadership — is guaranteed, Chung said.

That remains a high threshold — Pyongyang has considered itself at risk of invasion by the United States since the Korean War ended in a ceasefire in 1953, leaving the two sides technically still at war.

But, Chung said, Kim is willing to discuss denuclearisation in talks with Washington — which could be the crucial concession needed to enable a dialogue to happen.

The US has long insisted that Pyongyang take concrete steps towards denuclearisation as a precondition.

Tuesday’s developments are the latest steps in a rapid Olympics-driven rapprochement on the peninsula. They follow a year of high tensions during which Pyongyang carried out its most powerful nuclear test to date, along with multiple missile launches, including rockets capable of reaching the US mainland.

Kim and US President Donald Trump traded personal insults and threats of war, sending fears of conflict spiralling.

But the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the South triggered an apparent transformation, with Kim sending his sister to the opening ceremony and sparking a flurry of cross-border trips as South Korean President Moon Jae-in tries to broker talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

North and South agreed to hold a summit in late April in Panmunjom, the truce village in the DMZ, Chung said after leading the most senior delegation to travel North for more than a decade.

It will be the third meeting between the leaders of North and South, but the first to take place in the DMZ after summits in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.

The North “made clear that there is no reason to own nuclear (weapons) if military threats towards the North are cleared and the safety of its regime is guaranteed”, Chung said.

Pyongyang “expressed willingness to have frank dialogue with the US to discuss the denuclearisation issue and to normalise North-US relations,” he added, and said there would be no provocations such as nuclear or ballistic missile tests while dialogue was under way.

“Also, the North promised not to use atomic weapons or conventional weapons towards the South,” he told reporters, adding that Seoul and Pyongyang would set up a hotline between the leaders.

Kim said he would “understand” if the South goes ahead with delayed joint military exercises with the US that usually infuriate Pyongyang, a senior official at the South’s presidential office added.

‘Very important breakthrough’
The envoys’ visit had produced “a very important breakthrough”, said Cheong Seong Chang of Sejong Institute think tank, calling the results “an important first step towards stably managing the North’s nuclear and missile threats, preventing war on the Korean peninsula and building political and military trust”.

He cautioned that the definition of “military threats” the North wanted to see removed was “up for interpretation”, but said he believed Washington and Pyongyang “would soon begin serious dialogue”.

But previous negotiations have ultimately foundered. Six-party talks, grouping the two Koreas, Russia, China, Japan and the US, and offering the North security and economic benefits in exchange for denuclearisation, broke down almost a decade ago.

North Korean state media pictures of the delegation’s meeting with Kim in Pyongyang — which Seoul said lasted more than four hours — showed the North’s leader in jovial mood, smiling and shaking hands enthusiastically.

“Hearing the intention of President Moon Jae-In for a summit from the special envoy of the south side, he exchanged views and made a satisfactory agreement,” the North’s official news agency KCNA said earlier.

Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers Party, devoted its entire front page Tuesday to the visit.

The Seoul representatives’ trip came after the North’s leader sent his sister to the Winter Games in the South and invited Moon to a summit in Pyongyang.

Kim Yo Jong’s trip was the first to the South by a member of the North’s ruling dynasty since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Her appearance at the Games’ opening ceremony — where athletes from the two Koreas marched together — made global headlines.

At the time Moon did not accept the invitation to a summit, saying that the “right conditions” were needed.

The South’s envoys will travel to Washington on Wednesday to brief US officials on their discussions in Pyongyang.

It could be a challenging task — Trump has dubbed Kim “Little Rocket Man” and boasted about the size of his nuclear button, while the North Korean leader called the American president a “mentally deranged US dotard”.

“They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America!” Trump said in an early morning tweet.

It was one of a series of tweets posted by Trump in the wake of the indictments filed Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller against 13 Russians for meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

The indictments lay out in detail an elaborate effort by Russians using social media and agents on the ground to accentuate political divisions to sway the election in favor Trump and against his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump has so far refrained from directly taking on Russia even though US intelligence chiefs warned that the interference was continuing and likely to target the upcoming US midterm elections.

“If it was the GOAL of Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams,” Trump said.

In another tweet minutes before, he said: “I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said ‘it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer.’”

“The Russian ‘hoax’ was that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia – it never did!”

]]> http://bartonheyman.com/world-update-as-gun-debate-rages-trump-changes-the-subject/ Fri, 16 Feb 2018 11:49:44 +0000 http://bartonheyman.com/?p=4837 […]]]>

President Donald Trump acted as consoler-in-chief Thursday to a nation despondent over the latest mass shooting of school kids, with an address that aimed to assuage — and steer debate away from the fraught question of gun control.

After a day and night of intense debate inside the White House, the 45th president walked into the Diplomatic Reception Room and spoke to a nation grieving “with one heavy heart.”

“We are here for you — whatever you need, whatever we can do, to ease your pain,” Trump said, addressing the families shattered by a gun rampage that killed 17 children and adults.

Trump had agreed to make the address only reluctantly, at the urging of senior aides.

The morning after the shooting, he issued a largely symbolic proclamation, ordering flags to be flown at half-staff at government buildings, military installations and at US embassies overseas.

But in the immediate aftermath on Wednesday, Trump’s absence had been conspicuous.

At almost exactly the time US authorities first confirmed the toll, in the early evening, the White House sent out a message saying the president would not appear again publicly that day.

In an unusual scene, reporters working in the usually heaving White House briefing room walked out the door toward Valentine’s Day appointments they had assumed they would miss.

In similar situations, previous presidents have quickly, within hours, appeared in the room, eager to console or unite.

Barack Obama’s tearful appearance there after 20 elementary school children were murdered at Sandy Hook in 2012, was a seminal moment of his presidency.

“Everyone understood, when something of that magnitude happened that the Americans people expect to hear from the president,” said Obama speechwriter Terry Szuplat, who recalls the 44th president carrying out that duty at least 15 times.

“No one needed to come and tell us to start working, we understood the magnitude of these situations. We knew that at some point, somewhere he would have to come out and speak. It was expected, required and necessary.”

Trump — as ever in his ground-breaking and rule-breaking presidency — initially chose to do things differently.

A pair of tweets
His only comments Wednesday were a pair of tweets offering “prayers and condolences” and saying he spoke to Florida Governor Rick Scott and was “working closely with law enforcement on the terrible Florida school shooting.”

With other questions brewing about Trump’s position on gun control, his alleged affair with a porn star and battery of allegations against a top aide, the White House cancelled its already delayed regular daily briefing.

Inside any White House, there is a delicate conversation about what to say after a mass shooting and how to say it.

“Somehow this has become routine,” Obama admitted in 2015. By the end of his presidency, he had, he said, felt tapped out, unsure what to say and how it could make a difference.

“The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine.”

But according to Szuplat, “there is really only one person who can channel that grief and speak to that grief, and there is only one person who can truly speak for the nation.”

Part of the task is to help bring clarity to a confusing situation, but often the audience is the people directly involved.

“I know from feedback we received on the scene and in the days and months that followed how much it means to these communities to hear directly from the president, to hear that ‘you are not alone,’” Szuplat said.

“They need to know that the entire country stands with them.”

Trump did just that, vowing to visit Florida in the coming days, quoting scripture and declaring “we hold fast to our fellow Americans in their time of sorrow.”

But in the wake of any shooting or terror attack, Americans also expect solutions, a task complicated entirely by the country’s ingrained differences over gun laws.

Focus on mental health
This latest mass shooting — in a country where they are an almost daily occurrence — has inevitably reignited questions about permissive rules that allow the purchase of assault rifles.

But Trump’s hard opposition to any additional gun control makes it more difficult for him to offer solutions.

He is the first president to have addressed the NRA, a powerful gun industry group that has outsized influence over American politics.

Opponents of gun curbs have sought to steer public debate onto the motives, and mental health, of people using the weapons, and Trump’s response was in step with that strategy.

On Thursday morning the president again took to Twitter to call out the “erratic” behavior of the Florida gunman, 19-year-old Nicolaz Cruz, saying neighbors should have reported him to the authorities.

During his speech he went one step further, promising to make the issue of mental health a priority, and to work with states and local authorities to make schools safer.

But not a word about guns.

]]> http://bartonheyman.com/africa-update-ramaphosa-succeeds-zuma-as-south-african-president/ Fri, 16 Feb 2018 11:48:12 +0000 http://bartonheyman.com/?p=4835 […]]]>

South African lawmakers formally named wealthy former businessman Cyril Ramaphosa as new president Thursday after scandal-tainted Jacob Zuma resigned under intense pressure from his own party.

Ramaphosa, the only candidate, was approved without a vote by the parliament in Cape Town, chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng told assembled lawmakers, to loud cheers.

Zuma announced his resignation late Wednesday, and aimed barbs at the African National Congress (ANC) party for vowing to oust him via a no-confidence vote in parliament.

In a 30-minute televised address, Zuma said he had “come to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect”.

“I have only asked my party to articulate my transgressions and the reason for its immediate instruction that I vacate office,” he said.

Zuma, 75, had been embroiled in a divisive power struggle with Ramaphosa, the deputy president.

Ramaphosa won control of the ANC when he was elected as its head in December.

Benchmark South African stocks scored their biggest gains since June 2016 after news that a pro-business reformist would be taking the helm.

The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index rose as much as 2.7 percent, while the rand reached its strongest level since February 2015, gaining 0.5 percent at 11.6570 to the dollar in early trade.

]]> http://bartonheyman.com/africa-update-zimbabwe-wont-return-land-to-white-farmers-says-mnangagwa/ Mon, 12 Feb 2018 09:44:45 +0000 http://bartonheyman.com/?p=4816 […]]]>

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday said the country will not return land seized from former white commercial farmers almost two decades ago.

“It will never happen,” Mnangagwa said in a speech to his ZANU-PF party supporters in central Zimbabwe, broadcast on television.

His statement comes two months after white farmer Robert Smart got his land back after being evicted in June by ex-president Robert Mugabe’s government.

Zimbabwe embarked on a violent land reform programme in 2000, taking over white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks.

Thousands of white farmers were forced off their land by mobs or evicted, with Mugabe saying the reforms would help black people marginalised under British colonial rule.

Critics blame the land redistribution for the collapse in agricultural production that saw the former regional breadbasket become a perennial food importer.

The government has indicated it will issue 99-year bankable leases to beneficiaries of land reform but Mnangagwa on Saturday said land owners must be more productive.

“Our land must be productive. We must mechanise and modernise our agriculture,” he said, adding that the land reforms were “irreversible”.

Mnangagwa, who came to power after a military intervention ended Mugabe’s decades-old rule last year, said new elections would be held in July.

“We want a peaceful election. We want a united people. There is no reason for ZANU-PF to be violent. There is no reason for any political party to be violent.”

The former deputy president said his government’s top priority was to revive the ailing economy.

“Our economy is struggling, unemployment is high, our youth lack opportunities, too many people are unable to afford essential goods for their families and our infrastructure is stuck in the past,” he said.

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