“GO and tell the opposition that munhu akatanga kufamba netsoka kuenda ku China anotanga kusvika opposition yemuno isati yasvika kuState House (please tell the opposition that someone who decides to walk to China will get there before the opposition here reaches State House).”

The above words by President Emmerson Mnangagwa during the launch of the ZANU PF By-elections national campaign in Epworth on Saturday last week will undoubtedly ring far and loud as the anthem of the forthcoming March 26 2022 by-elections and the 2023 harmonised polls.

The words were a sobering reminder to the opposition that ZANU PF is far from being a spent force as they like to claim in their fractured quarters.

The words were also a message to the opposition’s Western handlers that any prospects of regime change are nothing but wishful thinking.

This Party in Government means business.

The people too mean business: the business of defending and protecting their beloved motherland from the scourge of neo-colonialism.

And there could not have been a better place to exhibit that bond: to send that message to all those who have been ingenuously living the lie that they will take over power in Zimbabwe any time soon. 

That statement was boldly stamped at Domboramwari (God’s stone), Epworth.

The bond between the ZANU PF leadership and the masses that thronged the venue was easily discernible: it was just seamless as has been the connection between the ruling Party and the masses through the land reform and resettlement as well as the economic empowerment programmes that have been initiated and implemented by ZANU PF.

An enthralling sea of green, red, yellow and black, the ZANU PF colours, illuminated the bustling and sprawling Epworth. Even the scorching weather could not dampen that grandiose gathering on Saturday.

ZANU PF is very much alive, even in urban areas that have been abused by opposition parties over the past two decades.

It is here to stay and to do what it has been doing since the days of the liberation struggle — delivering to the masses.

Emotions of what will be eternal elation, visible throughout proceedings, duly registered through the vibrant crowd whose lives are about to be transformed after years of neglect by opposition councillors.

Numbers do not lie.

They tell the story in its entirety, belying all adversity and every lie.

This was the story in Epworth, a tale that sent shockwaves throughout the opposition camps that had been revelling in the fantasies of a social media narrative that is at a tangent with the aspirations of the masses.

ZANU PF knows how to play the game and where to play it — at the mecca of the masses’ wishes and desires.

And so it was in Epworth, the inaugural gathering of the galvanisation of the masses towards what will be another routine victory for the ruling party.

Unlike in the past where politics took the centre stage, in Epworth, it was a different ball game altogether.

The message was about development.

It was about what ZANU PF has done since November 2017: about what it is doing now and what it will do in the near future.

Let us hear President Mnangagwa speak at that mega rally:

“The opposition has failed urbanites, service delivery is poor. There are potholes everywhere in towns. Refuse is not being collected, sewage is flowing everywhere and all they can chant is CCC while sewage is flowing.”

Following the failure by opposition-run local authorities to manage and maintain roads, the new dispensation, on February 9 2021, declared the state of all roads a national disaster.

It has since embarked on a massive road rehabilitation programme under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP 2).

The programme will run from 2021 to 2023, with at least US$400 million to be raised by the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

Since then, a number of roads are being rehabilitated.

President Mnangagwa also revealed that Government has so far procured 40 rigs for its borehole drilling programme.

Government is seeking to drill a borehole for each of the country’s 35 000 villages.

He had no kind words for local authorities which have been under opposition parties in the past two decades. 

“Corruption is rampant in councils. Harare council, over half their officials are facing corruption charges and this is the chance for us to remove them. We have the power and ways to remove them. Let us vote the opposition out,” said President Mnangagwa.

He went on, unpacking the roads rehabilitation strategy that Government has adopted to clean the opposition’s mess as well as availing title deeds to people in areas like Epworth.

“So, when we vote for our local councillors, it’s an opportunity to vote for our candidate and ensure that service delivery improves. Just look at what we are doing as Central Government: We have adopted the roads in urban areas.

“We have decided that we should give title deeds to residents in settlements like Epworth, Harare South and Caledonia. Treasury allocated funds to the Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Ministry to buy equipment for a geo-spatial survey.

“We used this equipment for geo-spatial mapping in these areas and now we have maps which can help us create modern residential areas with roads, schools and other amenities.”

He said no one will be left homeless once the mapping process is completed.

“Some of the roads we are going to construct will affect houses, but those affected will not be left homeless: they will be allocated flats somewhere else,” he said.

“Our Housing Minister Cde (Daniel) Garwe and his team are already at work as we are building flats so that those who are settled on areas where roads have to be constructed will be moved to those flats.

“We cannot displace people, no! We are not going to do that. Minister (Amon) Murwira, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and his Geo-Spatial team are busy determining which people can be given title deeds. With the title deeds, it means the stand is now formally yours and no one can take it away from you.”

As the multitudes trekked back to their respective homes, there was no denying that a new dawn for Zimbabwe has indeed arrived.

Somewhere in the near distance, not far from Domboramwari, Simon Chimbetu’s song ‘KuState House’ was playing softly, reminding the grudgingly obliging ears of the excitable opposition.