Mugabe To Consider Story Telling If Defeated, Pledges To Respect Poll Outcome By Simplicius Chirinda

State House, July 30, 2013 – Zimbabwe’s octogenarian leader President Robert Mugabe says he will become a story teller in his next life if his presidency comes to an end, pledging to respect any outcome of Wednesday’s watershed election.

Mugabe told a press briefing at State House Tuesday evening that he won’t be short of things to do if he gets out of office.

The 89 year-old leader was responding to questions on how he plans to spend his time away from the presidential office.

“How do you ask an 89 year-old how he will spend his time.  All these years how have I been spending it, I will spend my time doing what I have always been doing, perhaps there is nothing to do in Zimbabwe. I am a politician, an educationist and I am also now a good story teller you know. I will spend my time telling stories or writing,” said a relaxed Mugabe.

Ironically he has of late been repeatedly telling old war of liberation stories at his rallies, sometimes going for more than two hours story telling his supporters.

He also told the briefing that his party religiously follows the Constitution and will continue to do so no matter the outcome of the July 31 election.

“I comply, obey the electoral law and honour the demands of the electoral law, I am very obedient, I am a lawyer myself and I am a person who believes in order,” said Mugabe

Asked what he makes of past pronouncements by army generals that they will not accept any leader who has no liberation war credentials. He said, “You are putting it as if all generals said so, if one or two said so, it’s just so and they are not the army and they are not the authority and I thought that was corrected. They are law abiding people, they have military discipline they obey and not the discipline that you and I are used to,” he said.

On Wednesday, Zimbabweans vote in presidential, parliamentary and council elections to end four years of governing by a coalition government of President Mugabe and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai.