THE One-Million-Man March held on Africa Day at Robert Mugabe Square in Harare was the ruling party ZANU PF sending a message to all and sundry that with President Robert Mugabe at the helm, it remains the formidable force that crushed pretenders-to-the-throne on July 31 2013.
There have been several ZANU PF obituaries since the expulsion of Dr Joice Mujuru.
The desultory Morgan Tsvangirai is alleged to have found his ‘lost mojo’ in the aftermath of his recent ‘demonstration’.
But ZANU PF, which dies in newspapers, on a sunny Africa Day made an emphatic statement.
On Wednesday, Zimbabweans slapped critics in the face when they turned up en masse for the resoundingly successful One Million Man March, an overwhelming endorsement of President Mugabe and ZANU PF.
They came to honour and spend some time with their revered leader.
His legion of followers consider him a grandmaster, he has even been conferred with a Seventh Dan black belt and the title “Kyoshi” by the World Bino Ryu Karate Do organisation.
It was a day made for Mugabe, the inspirational leader, the African icon.
It was a day made for the people, themselves a vital cog of ZANU PF’s existence.
The connection was seamless; it was visible to rivals who anticipated a no-show.
The days preceding the historic gathering at Robert Mugabe Square had been laden with the usual lamentations from Western corridors through their protégé, the MDC-T, that the programme would not succeed.
The opposite happened.
The anticipated spectacular flop was a blinding success.
President Mugabe proved that afternoon that ZANU PF will never walk alone.
It has the people on its side.
The MDC-T’s ‘spectacular flop’ statement was after the realisation that the ZANU PF force is not about to be shaken.
And in an about turn, or as usual, the MDC-T claimed that the people had been ‘forced’ to attend.
But then this is President Mugabe whom they have frantically tried to dismiss, since their ill-fated formation on September 11 1999.
A serial election winner, a true champion of the people’s empowerment and an ultimate pan-Africanist, the Zimbabwean leader became the supreme in the fight against neo-colonialism once the British, through the MDC revealed their plans for Zimbabwe from 2000 and beyond.
Beyond his ability to deliver and fulfill expectations, President Mugabe has a charisma and self-confidence that few leaders have.
Such a suave and magnetic character is exactly the kind of public relations boost ZANU PF needs after a lean period of disagreements and public spats in the recent past.
Factionalism, said President Mugabe, was alien to ZANU PF and had the potential to destroy the Party.
To those who are not content with their positions, President Mugabe said they should do self-introspection and listen to the people who elected them to leadership positions.
“The groups that we hear are in the party, these are treasonous,” he said.
“That is a culture that is alien to ZANU PF and we have no idea where it is coming from.
“It must stop.
“There should never be these little groups and never listen to a leader who wants to push personal agendas.
“Come with your criticism, with your grievances into the party and let us openly discuss them.
“Even war veterans, they must not be seen to push a different political agenda from outside the structures of the party.
“We do not want that nonsense.”
Then there was a message for the embattled MDC-T.
“I am here to stay,” said President Mugabe.
No amount of noise from the opposition would make him step down since he serves at the pleasure of the people who elected him.
And the numbers at Robert Mugabe Square on Wednesday were a timely reminder that they are not about to let their mercurial leader go yet.
Said President Mugabe: “Ko ndogoenda kupi?
“I belong to my people.
“My people say ‘stay here’.
“I am not a Briton, I don’t like it.
“I am not American, I am not Yankee.
“I told Blair (former British Prime Minister) to keep his England so that I can keep my Zimbabwe.
“Ko zvino?”
His current position, he said, was made possible by ZANU PF people and these are the only people who can ask him to step down.
“I belong to Zimbabwe,” said President Mugabe.
“So, they say I must go.
“The outsiders, why do they want Zimbabwe to stand down, to resign, to retire?
“Vanhu vanguka ndovanoti ahh chiregai.
“Ko MDC itsitsi here dzekunzwira VaMugabe kuti vaneta?
“Kana kuti kutya VaMugabe?
“So tell the papers that VaMugabe says, go hang, hang yourself.”
Wednesday May 25 2016 will go down in history as the day Zimbabweans declared for the inspirational President Mugabe.
It is also the day which made those who thought they could beat ZANU PF in the 2018 harmonised election re-think.