Opposition party tips ED for poll victory

Gibson Mhaka, Senior Reporter

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa is poised for a resounding victory in the forthcoming harmonised elections scheduled to be held on August 23, opposition party, Zimbabwe Republicans Front (ZRF) leader Mr Fanuel Lisenga has said.

Addressing a press conference in Bulawayo on Friday, where he also endorsed President Mnangagwa’s candidature Mr Lisenga said President Mnangagwa will win the forthcoming presidential elections by a landslide. Zimbabwe is preparing for harmonised elections with the ruling party launching its 2023 election campaign yesterday at Mutema Secondary School in Mutema-Musikavanhu constituency in Chipinge District, Manicaland province.

Mr Lisenga who could not run for president since he is 39 years old which is less than the constitutionally mandated age of 40, said the ruling party under the stewardship of President Mnangagwa had a clear development agenda to uplift the people’s livelihoods.

“As the leader of ZRF I had to arrive at this decision not out of my own volition or duress but I had to consult the party’s ten provincial leaders who voted among themselves who to support in the forthcoming elections. We reached a consensus that we will support President ED Mnangagwa. I hereby myself as the president of ZRF endorse President Mnangagwa in the next five years because of his experience. We are predicting a resounding victory for President ED Mnangagwa because of what we are seeing on the ground. 

The opposition parties are just strong in towns but what we discovered is that in the rural areas Zanu-PF has tremendous support. Even looking at the recent nomination processes in several wards, opposition parties did not field candidates. People want President ED Mnangagwa. We as Republicans we are seeing a resounding victory most probably by 60 percent going to President ED Mnangagwa,” said Mr Lisenga.

He urged Zimbabweans to preserve the ongoing development momentum being spearheaded by the Second Republic by voting for the ruling party, Zanu-PF saying in a sanctions free environment President Mnangagwa can effectively deliver.

“The other reasons that they gave in their submissions was that if we are to look at the greater part of his five-year tenure, he managed to deliver some tangible progress in those five years especially in terms of infrastructure development. He is a tested leader who had seen it all and in a sanctions free environment and also taking away the element of economic saboteurs like the ones we are seeing who are bent on derailing milestones of the Second Republic, President ED Mnangagwa can effectively deliver for Zimbabwe,” added Mr Lisenga.

The development momentum has seen more than 7 000 high impact life-changing projects being completed across the country in the past five years. In March this year, Fitch Solutions, a global advisory and credit rating agency based in the United States of America, also predicted that President Mnangagwa and the ruling Zanu-PF will win the polls.