BY MOSES MATENGA MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa  yesterday warned President Emmerson Mnangagwa against “stoking political fires” through arbitrary arrests of his opponents and silencing of divergent voices. Chamisa told NewsDay in an interview yesterday that the Zimbabwean government’s arbitrary arrests and torture of opposition activists and other citizens who hold divergent views were likely to escalate ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections, if they were not nipped in the bud. He also called on the African Union regional bodies to act swiftly in condemning dictatorship on the African continent, as well as use of the military in settling political contestation disputes like what happened in Uganda during last week’s elections, where veteran leader President Yoweri Museveni was announced as winner of an election mired by intimidation and arrests of opposition leaders. Museveni was announced winner, with the army camped at his rival Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)’s residence. On the arrests of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, the MDC Alliance vice-chairperson Job Sikhala and party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere and others, Chamisa said it was clear that the Mnangagwa administration was using “the law as a tool for oppression in Zimbabwe”. He said that intimidation of opposition leaders and divergent voices was the same template that was used by African dictators. “It is the same template used by dictators. It represents a major attack on alternative voices. It shows that our country is sliding back into the Rhodesian settler regime era, where politics of repression, torture, and arbitrary arrests were the order of the day. It is a signifier of shrinking democratic space,” the main opposition leader said. He said the country was sliding back into anarchy and tyranny taking advantage of the COVID-19 lockdown period. “We are sliding back into anarchy and tyranny. Whereas we have COVID-19, we have a pandemic of authoritarianism. We have a disease of despotism and dictatorship, escalation of persecution by prosecution.” He added: “It is an attempt to poison the nation and stoke fires of hostility. Instead of my opposite number Mnangagwa being a father figure, he is choosing to behave like the last born in the family, starting fires and mischief when we need a head of State and sober mind. “We don’t need to be pyromaniacs. He is in the habit of starting fires and a government leader must not start fires but extinguish them. This is advice I am giving to my opposite number Mnangagwa for free. He who starts fires often gets burnt by those fires. This is genuine elderly advice. “Stop harassing citizens. It’s always wise not to make the mistake of growing old without growing up. Zimbabwe needs maturity and magnanimity, as well as tolerance in politics.” Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo was not picking calls yesterday for a comment. But Zanu PF is on record distancing itself from the abuse of State machinery for political gain. On the issue of the just-ended Ugandan elections, Chamisa said it spelt doom for Africa