Zimbabwe after the polls will still be home to us all

ZIMBABWEANS are today voting in the by-elections to elect 28 Members of Parliament and 117 councillors. Sixteen political parties are contesting in the elections to replace those who died, were recalled or redeployed.

The ruling party Zanu-PF, MDC-Alliance and Citizens’ Coalition for Change are contesting in almost all the 28 constituencies and council wards.

The campaign period has been largely peaceful except for a few skirmishes at some of the CCC rallies which the police quickly contained.

We want at this juncture to commend the different political parties for demonstrating political maturity and tolerance which should prevail after the voting and announcement of results.

Today citizens indicate through their votes, the individuals or political parties that won their hearts.

The people where the by-elections are being held, triumphed during the campaign period and should maintain the peace as they cast their vote today.

We want to borrow from President Mnangagwa’s plea on the eve of the 2018 harmonised general elections when he said: “Let us all — citizens and candidates alike  —be respectful, tolerant and love one another.

Let us remember that no matter who we support, we are all brothers and sisters and that, above all, the Zimbabwe after the polls will still be home to us all —  winners and losers”.

After voting for our councillors and MPs, we must remember that the challenge ahead is to make Zimbabwe a better place to live not just for ourselves but for future generations as well.

Those contesting the by-elections should respect the will of the people by accepting the results.

It is the voters who have the mandate to choose those they want to preside over their public affairs.

We want to once again wish Zimbabweans a peaceful day and as already stated, the prevailing peaceful environment should be maintained after these by-elections.

Police have already warned members of the public to desist from engaging in violence.

They said police will be on alert during and after elections to ensure a peaceful environment prevails.

The police should not hesitate to deal decisively with individuals or groups that might attempt to disturb peace.

Those who want to incite anarchy should be taken to where they belong, which is the prison.