AS it was in the beginning, when President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the ZANU PF election campaign to a mouth-watering gathering on June 24 at Mutema High School in Chipinge, the Party made a triumphant return to Manicaland Province to another appreciative crowd in Makoni South.
It was a homecoming for a Party in sync with the aspirations of the people.
Here was a Party on a trajectory of success coming to share with the masses what is in store for them.
ZANU PF no longer gives promises or manifestos;their work speak for itself — it is testimony.
It now just arrives, as it did on Wednesday in Rusape, as it has done during its 2023 election campaign, and throughout its illustrious 60 year old journey to showcase its abundant success stories.
And the stories are just too many to mention.
They speak for themselves everywhere across the country.
Despite being hamstrung by a hectic schedule that required him to be in Angola for a crucial SADC Summit, President Mnangagwa and his team could not disappoint the people by skipping the rally.
By mid-morning he was already at the venue to interact with the masses who too could not afford to miss the opportunity to be with their leadership.
Echoes of destiny in sight, victory well and truly within its grasp, a prominent feature of all its star rallies across the country and stately presence duly echoed in and around the packed Handina Secondary School grounds, the venue of the rally.
ZANU PF did not need to roll up its sleeves.
It merely needed to make its presence felt through its now trademark meet-the-people initiatives.
It was yet another demonstration of its ability to be at par with the aspirations of the masses, a clear demonstration that it is here to stay.
“We came here on June 24, in Chipinge, and I said the sun always rises from the east,” said President Mnangagwa.
“We launched our campaign in Chipinge; we have been around the country and there is only one province left. “However, our leadership came and said we would want to have our own rally and then I said we will go for another rally, you are the ones who decided that we come here to Makoni.
“This is the land of the Great Munhumutapa.
“We are here in Manicaland, a province that gave the land many heroes.
“In the journey to liberate the country, we had so many heroes who came from this land.
“We are still negotiating to have the heads of our forefathers, like Chief Chingaira, brought back to the country from the United Kingdom.
“You can see how Manicaland is a revolutionary Province.
“If you don’t vote for ZANU PF and allow puppets to take over, you will be dishonouring our national heroes. “You are a remarkable province, this was the gateway to the liberation struggle.
“You gave support, food and shelter to the guerillas. Manicaland was the water in which the fish survived, because of that we were able to conquer imperialism and colonialism.”
In the towering mountains and thick green lush of Manicaland, a mild breeze swishes silently, swiftly with a seemingly soothing silence pervading the area that endured intense agony during the days of the liberation struggle.
The people have not forgotten the horrors of that painful struggle.
They will never forget.
Vast swathes of land spread their tentacles beneath and above the mountains, unleashing serene scenery that aptly catches the eye.
It is that land, those mountains and the alluring scenery that former colonialists want to snatch from the people of Zimbabwe; something that their local acolytes somehow choose to ignore.
They are also alien to the fact that the sanctions which they called for to be imposed on the country, the sanctions which have brought untold suffering to the masses, will never bring them to power.
The people of Zimbabwe have had their say on this matter and they will bury that insanity on August 23.
“With peace, ZANU PF will continue to develop the country in leaps and harmony; if you look at what we have done in the past five years, you will marvel,” President Mnangagwa said.
“We have milestones under ZANU PF, the only party with a history of liberating this country.
“Victory is imminent.
“Victory is certain.
“We have sanctions imposed on us by the Western world with the aim of imposing a puppet regime but never, ever.
“We are a revolutionary people; no-one will take away our independence. We are a sovereign State. No-one will teach us democracy; no-one will look down upon us — nyika inovakwa nevene vayo.
“Next week, we will be voting. To the people, we are saying polling station by polling station, ward by ward, let us go in large numbers to vote for Team ZANU PF.”
Because Zimbabweans certainly know what they want and need, the grand final rally in Midlands, dubbed ‘The Mother of all Rallies’ will put the icing on the ZANU PF cake.
