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Chinhoyi and the long road to freedom

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ABOUT three kilometres from Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) is a sharp curve that almost forms a circle, resembling how convoluted the country’s road to freedom was.
On the left, as you enter the historic town, stands tall an eternal reminder of the struggle for freedom and its fruits, the Provincial Heroes Acre, flanked by a thriving winter wheat crop.
Immediately after the wheat crop is a bridge which caps a railway line that carries mainly food produced in the Mashonaland West Province to the Grain Marketing Board Depot (GMB) in Banket, some 20km from Chinhoyi.
On Saturday, as one drove from the capital, there was a sight that exhibited all things good about Zimbabwe.
From Westgate Round-about in Harare, the ZANU PF colourful carnival immediately graced the eye.
It traversed in a buoyant mood the 115km journey to where the toddler footsteps to freedom were first taken.
Yet it was not even ZANU PF displaying its mobilisation acumen.
It was simply the people re-winding the clock and joining en masse the path to pay tribute for the umpteenth time to the Party that gave them freedom, meaning and honour.
It is clear from these on-going Presidential Youth Interface rallies that ZANU PF no longer needs to mobilise people to its gatherings.
Its history, its flair and its connectivity with the people augers well for the unstoppable revolutionary Party.
Tractors, ramshackle trucks and monster machines of today travelled the path that led to Chinhoyi, the place of history.
Farm workers, teachers and miners all flanked the road to CUT to form one of the biggest crowds ever seen in the country’s history.
The elderly, grandmothers and grandfathers ambled to the gathering, obviously reminiscing their youthful days and the struggle that their weary eyes witnessed first-hand.
Young mothers with their babies tightly strapped on their backs were also in tow with new fathers providing the much needed looming fatherly figures on the journey to the ZANU PF roller coaster.
Children, refusing to be outdone by their elders, also joined the fray albeit in an intense struggle to keep up with the pace of these determined fathers and mothers.
Revolutionary songs pervaded the walking and driving masses as the rustling breeze argued with the scorching sun that had threatened to spoil the event at CUT.
At around 13:12 hours, the man of the show, President Robert Mugabe, accompanied by the First Lady Amai Dr Grace Mugabe, made their grand entrance.
They waved the clenched fists to the appreciative ZANU PF faithfuls, setting the stage for what turned out to be a grandiose afternoon.
Below is what they said:
President Mugabe
“There is an issue to say the President is going, I am not going; the President is dying, I am not dying and I thank God for having lived to this day.
“I thank God also for giving me good life. I will have an ailment here and there.
“I go to the doctors like everyone else; but body-wise, maorgans angu ese — my heart, my liver, mukati umu — very firm, very strong.
“Vakashama vana chiremba kuti you have grown so strong, your bones, your system.
“Ndikati ndiMwari.
“But, of course, muscles and bones also must be assisted to be strong.
“For years, ndakangova munhu akangoramba achiita exercise the body, from prison to this day.
“So, certainly the bones are bound to be strong.
“Tinonamata kuti Mwari arambe achitipa hupenyu.
“Vamwe vari divided tribally, vamwe vanoshorana.
“‘Rwendo runo hatidi vechiZezuru, takuda kuti tichipinda isu’. Once you begin to talk like that, you are not going to be a uniting person at all.
“I don’t have that kind of talk.
“I am happy; when I am in Matabeleland or in the Midlands or in Manicaland, hapana vandinoti ava havasi vangu.
“Vakuru vatinavo muPolitburo, muGovernment should recognise that the principle that made us succeed was one of unity.
“Yes, there is the aspect of discipline and self-sacrifice, but underlying those ones is unity.
“Unity means we are together in mind, we are together in the way we operate in our positions.
“We are together in mind also means we should speak the same language.
“We should avoid speaking against each other, kunyeyana, kuoganaizirana.”
Amai Dr Grace Mugabe
“We have been quiet for a long time.
“This must be stopped.
“Aiwa ka, varume ka, kana musingiwirirane, garai pasi mutaurirane, muite iron out maproblems enyu musati mabuda panze… Tikaenda mustreet tikaita ruzha, it means we are insulting the President…”
As people headed to their respective homes, it was clear that yet another victory looms for ZANU PF in the 2018 polls.

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