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animosity at a time when Government has initiated a national healing and reconciliation process.
This follows his statements at a rally in Masvingo on Sunday where he reportedly urged his supporters to retaliate using violence against political opponents.

Senior MDC-T official and co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone vindicated Mr Tsvangirai’s call for violence, saying it was time they extinguished fire with fire.
Said Mrs Makone: “Zanu-PF used to beat us like drums and you expect us to say ‘thank you’. When I was young, my mother told me that if someone beats you, you should hit back,” she said.
Mrs Makone exonerated Mr Tsvangirai for inciting violence, saying it was her and other members of the party’s youth assembly who wanted revenge.

“My Prime Minister never said such words. It was myself and the youth that spoke about violence,” she said.
However, Zanu-PF yesterday condemned the MDC-T leadership’s call for violence and urged its supporters to be peaceful in the face of open hostility from a partner in the inclusive Government.
“This is unacceptable. As Zanu-PF, we do not subscribe to violence and we do not encourage our people to engage in violence. We want peace and stability in the country and we are totally opposed to violence,” said party spokesman Cde Rugare Gumbo.

EARLIER REPORT

• Tsvangirai preaches violence

Cde Gumbo said instead of taking the law into their own hands, MDC-T should report any incidences of violence against its supporters to the police or take legal action where necessary.
“What we want in Zimbabwe at the moment is to maintain the dignity, sovereignty and independence of our country. We must be seen as a credible and independent State. We want unity in Zimbabwe and that can only be achieved when we talk to each other.

“We want stability and that can only be achieved when people are not fighting,” Cde Gumbo said.
He, however, said the call by the MDC-T leadership was neither new nor surprising.
“The MDC-T has always been a violent party. Their call for violence is deliberate and well orchestrated,” Cde Gumbo said.

He added: “We expect the principals to handle the issue since we are in an inclusive Government. We are also meeting on Wednesday as Politburo and the issue could be discussed,” he said.
MDC deputy spokesperson Mr Kurauone Chihwayi said it was unfortunate that some leaders who were signatories to the Global Political Agreement were inciting violence.
“As a democratic party, we do not believe in violence and we do not support anyone who incites violence.

“That was a very irresponsible statement from a partner who happens to be a Prime Minister in the inclusive Government,” he said.
By making such statements, Mr Chihwayi said,Mr Tsvangirai was defying the operations of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee, a multi-party taskforce that was set up to monitor the implementation of the Global Political Agreement.

Political analyst Professor Jonathan Moyo also said the call for violence by Mr Tsvangirai was not new.
“The statement is a reminder to all Zimbabweans of the violent culture of the MDC-T and goes back to a statement he (Tsvangirai) made in 2000 that the President should leave office outside an election or risk being removed violently,” he said.

“Since that time the MDC-T has shown its true colours of violence not only against Zanu-PF but even within itself leading to the 2005 split,” Prof Moyo said.
He said a culture of violence within MDC-T was evident in the run-up to its April Bulawayo congress.
“In all these instances, nothing has been done to curb violence within the MDC-T,” Prof Moyo said.

He castigated Mr Tsvangirai for always making irresponsible public utterances.
“You give him a microphone and a crowd and he will say the most irresponsible thing.
“He will not talk about land utilisation or paying of civil servants.

“He will not talk about defending our minerals or selling of our diamonds. He will not talk about anything constructive. He is Mr Bad News,” he said.
Another observer, Mr Alexander Kanengoni, said MDC-T was always violent from its formation.
“They have been doing it before secretly and are now coming out in the open. The difference is that they are now admitting that they are a violent party yet at the beginning they were playing victim,” he said.

Political analyst Mr Godwine Mureriwa said: “The MDC-T wants to cultivate a culture of violence and their agenda is to make the whole process of the constitution-making process and referendum illegitimate so that when they lose in the next elections they will have a scapegoat.
“This justifies why they do not want to go to elections this year.”