Zimbabwe accuses West of propping opposition ahead of 2018 elections

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba on Wednesday accused Western powers of propping the country's opposition ahead of the 2018 elections.

The 93-year-old will most likely meet strong opposition from his former deputy in both government and the ruling Zanu-PF party Joice Mujuru and former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of MDC-T as the two and other opposition figures mull a coalition to end his rule.

The EU on Tuesday invited civil society organizations (CSOs) to submit proposals on projects "to promote democratic participation, good governance and accountability as well as dialogue amongst the different stakeholders in the country," pledging 5.3 million U.S. dollars to the cause.

It said the call was launched in the framework of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) National Indicative Programme (NIP), signed between the EU and the Zimbabwean government in 2015, which marked the resumption of full development cooperation between Zimbabwe and the EU.

However, Charamba, who is also Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, while remarking on the EU action, said the government was aware of machinations by the West to support the opposition ahead of the elections.

"The beast is in heat again. We are slowly inching towards elections and the westerners are back with their mischief, except they don't know we are watching," Charamba said.

"We are also aware of their involvement in other areas, including fomenting instability in the labor market," he told the state-controlled Herald newspaper.

The country is currently being rocked by strikes in the health sector where government hospital doctors want their conditions of service improved, while other civil servants are agitating for industrial action following government's failure to pay their 2016 annual bonuses.

Zimbabwe and the EU in February 2015 signed the NIP joint cooperation strategy funded by the EDF, under which the EU would provide development assistance amounting to 270 million dollars to the country.

The NIP envisaged support to civil society in their participation in public policy formulation, transparency and accountability, among other areas.

Relations between Zimbabwe and the EU have been frosty since the early 2000s when the African government expropriated white-owned farms and parceled them out to formerly landless blacks in often violent incidents that left several white farmers dead or wounded.

The EU has since then been accused of supporting opposition parties in a bid to remove the country's long serving President Mugabe from power. Endit