By Tapiwa Nyati
Recently in Magunje
THE liberation of Zimbabwe was a collective effort.
It was an effort of blood, tears and sacrifice that crossed tribal and class lines.
On the front, it ceased to be about whether one is Zezuru, Manyika, Kalanga, Ndebele, Korekore but the collective effort of nationhood.
It ceased to be about the individual or party doctrine but about fulfilling Nehanda’s promise/declaration that: “Mapfupa angu achamuka.”
Mapfupa aNehanda is the national spirit that possesses those who have been putting their lives on the line for the preservation and advancement of this land, Zimbabwe.
President Mnangagwa, cognisant of this fact, is restoring the legacy of national heroes in each province, giving hope to the youth that heroes are ordinary people who make extraordinary choices to serve others.
“Nyika inotongwa, kuvakwa nekunamatirwa nevene vayo…Our own task and burden is to carry the legacy left for us,” President Mnangagwa said last week at ZANU PF’s third Presidential rally held at Magunje Growth Point in Karoi, Mashonaland West Province.
Mashonaland West also holds a special place in the history of the liberation struggle. It is home to the first leader of independent Zimbabwe, late former President Robert Mugabe, James Chikerema and first black Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena.
Chikerema and Joshua Nkomo founded the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress in 1957 to push for significant reforms prior to it being outlawed. When this was also prohibited, Nkomo and Chikerema founded the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU).
Chikerema originally went into exile in Zambia, where he was serving as the interim president of ZAPU, during Nkomo’s incarceration. Chikerema oversaw the guerilla struggle of ZAPU after UDI.
The principle of the Second Republic has been, and continues to be, the mantra of leaving no-one and no place behind and as was in the previous rallies, President Mnangagwa held a gala in honour of Chikerema.
There is something special and spiritual about Mashonaland West.
It not clear whether it was coincidence of divine providence that, exactly 68 years plus a day, a group of seven guerillas (David Guzuzu, Arthur Maramba, Christopher Chatambudza, Simon Chingosha Nyandoro, Godfrey Manyerenyere, Godwin Dube and Chubby Savanhu) were engaged in a fierce battle with Ian Smith’s soldiers.
Nehanda’s spirit medium was hanged on April 27 1898 and on April 28 1966 the Battle of Chinhoyi was raging, fulfilling Nehanda’s prophecy that her bones would rise.
All seven were gunned down and as their blood seeped into the ground, a seed was sown and the Second Chimurenga began.
There have been social media wars, specifically on Twitter, where polls are conducted on who is popular between ZANU PF’s Mnangagwa and CCC’s Chamisa.
However, evidence on the ground point to a ZANU PF landslide victory.
In Karoi, over 70 000 people attended the rally and one can safely bet that 90 percent of them will not be voting on Twitter polls but will physically be at the ballot voting for ZANU PF come August 23.
“On August 23, we must go and vote. ZANU PF is unstoppable, and who dares stand in its way? Since 1980, we have been marching, marching and continue to march,” said President Mnangagwa.
“Let’s vote resoundingly for our party in peace. Let’s maintain peace before, during, and after elections and show that ZANU PF is unstoppable,” he went on to say.
The President highlighted the agricultural and mineral contributions by the province to the national fiscus.
A total of 604 projects are being spearheaded in the province, with 452 of them having been completed and 152 at various stages of completion.
One of the key achievements of the Second Republic has been propping indigenous businesses with emphasis on looking inward for solutions.
“When the Second Republic came in, we said you have given us sanctions, but our policy is engagement and re-engagement; be a friend to all and an enemy to no-one, but we will look inward to sustain ourselves.”
The President said in the last three years Zimbabwe has been working towards achieving, and achieved, food security.
“In the past, wheat was coming in from Ukraine but now we are food sufficient after we looked inwards. This year we are now exporting wheat. If we had failed to plan accordingly, we were going to be facing challenges as there is a war in Ukraine.”
“Fertiliser, we used to get from Russia, but now we are producing on our own,” the ZANU PF candidate said.
President Mnangagwa, in his address, issued a warning to companies that he called economic saboteurs out to thwart the country’s growth.
Time is running out for those who promote such vices, President Mnangagwa stated in his speech to thousands of ZANU PF supporters at Chemhanza Stadium in Magunje.
“We saw prices of basic commodities skyrocketing soon after we announced our election dates. I have warned some of the businesses behind this and recently revealed the names of some of them. My team has identified some more whom I have warned to tow the line in one week or we will deal with them,” he said.
“Last time, I mentioned some of them. I also have a list of others. But I am going to name them next week in Zaka,” he said. We wait for Zaka.
