malvernmugadzikwa
Ranga Mataire
President Mnangagwa is the first leader in the SADC region and on the continent to initiate enduring infrastructural projects across the country in a record time using local financial resources in an economy strangled by over two decades of sanctions.
This success was the key message to the tens of thousands that gathered at Mutema Secondary School in Chipinge from the revolutionary ZANU PF party’s First Secretary and President, Cde Mnangagwa, as he laid the theme for the August 2023 election.
For party supporters, there was no better way to express their unequivocal endorsement than showing up in numbers in euphoric scenes reminiscent of early independence days’ celebrations.
At every turn, one encountered a palpable infectious sense of patriotic zeal that indeed showed that rural communities that endured the larger brunt of the liberation struggle are the nerve centre and vanguard of post-independence ZANU PF.
Revolutionary songs reverberated across the school grounds and beyond as supporters joined a live band in extolling the virtues of the liberation struggle and the major milestones
that have so far been attained by the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa.
In the crowd was a mix of various age groups, representing the bridge between the liberation generation and the youths.
It aptly reflected ZANU PF today — a party born of the struggle but one now building a new legacy for the future.
On arrival, President Mnangagwa did not disappoint.
He was in his element as he took to the podium, paying tribute to the multitudes of supporters who believe in his leadership and in the revolutionary party’s economic and ideological thrust since the advent of the Second Republic.
He spoke mostly in the vernacular and connected well with his audience as he chronicled the deliverables of his administration in the mining, agriculture, infrastructure development and education sectors.
In a typical servant leadership style, the President told ZANU PF supporters that the Second Republic’s deliverables would not have been possible without a committed collective effort of every member in his or her individual station and rank in the party.
The President said the organisational mantle of the party has been proven by its capacity to mobilise the rank and file of supporters, including over 2 743 aspiring candidates to gather at Mutema with a singular purpose of wanting to deliver a massive victory for ZANU PF come August 23.
Unlike other political parties that have failed to field candidates in some local authority wards, ZANU PF, the President said, had already secured 74 wards.
No such feat would have been possible had ZANU PF not been a solid unit of rules as enshrined in its constitution, which empowers individuals in various structures to confidently execute their mandates for the good of the party.
The solidity of the revolutionary party is exemplified in how it has managed to enunciate policies that resonate with the populace like the devolution programme that has resulted in massive infrastructural development as local communities are being empowered to identify and prioritise issues that matter in their locality.
Instead of central Government dictating developmental needs of communities, the ruling ZANU PF Government, through the devolution programme, has provided funds to provinces and together with various leadership strata decide on funding priorities.
This has resulted in many schools, health facilities, roads being refurbished, including water and sanitation facilities.
“We leave no one behind in the administration and governance of the country.
This is the face of ZANU PF,” said the President.
In listening to the President, one got the sense of what is likely to come in the party’s manifesto, which is yet to be unveiled.
Instead of promises, the manifesto is likely to be an account and an audit of the current compendium of deliverables in the quest to attain an upper middle-income society status by 2030.
The deliverables, the President said, were there for everyone to see.
“We resolved the fuel crisis; we resolved electricity shortages. After Hwange Units 7 and 8, we are building more power stations and as we speak, we no longer have load-shedding.
“In a short period of time, we have grown our agriculture from a US$3,8 billion industry to US$8 billion.
“We transformed mining from US$3,7 billion to over US$12 billion using what we have in the country,” said the President, adding the Second Republic’s quest was to attain self-sufficiency in various areas, including being permanently food secure.
The President exhorted citizens to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner.
As the President came to the tail-end of his address, he had the last words for journalists.
He repeated the same words he has consistently made since assuming leadership in 2017.
Speaking in the vernacular, the President said: “Tinotenda vanomira vakati twii, kukapisa, kukatonhora vanongomira neZANU PF. ZANU PF is unstoppable, the media you are here, do not be shy to say this. ZANU PF is unstoppable. Icharamba ichitonga, ichingotonga, vamwe vachingomwachuka.”
It was a fitting way to end proceedings of an indelibly historic campaign launch in the heart of Chipinge, the ancestral home of ZANU founding leader Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, who was posthumously bestowed with National Hero status last August.
Online Reporter