We’re a great nation

We reproduce excerpts of President Mnangagwa’s address to ZANU PF supporters during yesterday’s provincial star rally at the Tongogara Business Centre in Shurugwi, Midlands province.

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Salutations

President

E.D. Mnangagwa

This is our last campaign rally.

In three days, we shall be casting our democratic votes on Wednesday.

We began our election campaign in the east — (in) Chipinge.

As Christians, we know wisdom and light comes from the east, therefore, we started our campaign journey from the east.

Today, we are here in the Midlands, the heart of the country. I am happy with your numbers. If you look at that mountain . . . we are close to Josiah Magama Tongogara’s homestead and I am happy that his family is here.

However, we have invited many observer nations from our region, continent and beyond, and they are here.

Some do not understand our local Shona or Ndebele languages, so you will find me speaking more in English than Shona.

Not that I love English, but it is beneficial that my message is understood beyond ourselves. Your presence here is evidence that the people of Zimbabwe will continue to show your unflinching love for your motherland.

You are showing your commitment to defend your heritage, to defend your independence, freedom and sovereignty, and keeping the inheritance we got from our forefathers.

We, who are assembled here today, are descendants of the great emperor, Munhumutapa, so we must never allow ourselves to feel inferior. We are a great nation, a great people, descendants of a great emperor and empire — the Munhumutapa Empire.

We shall carry forward the legacy and heritage of our ancestors as proud people.

Today is our 10th ZANU PF provincial people’s rally, following, as I said, the one we launched in Chipinge. Midlands province is privileged to be host of the final rally here at the Tongogara Business Centre, munyika yaMambo Nhema, Murambwi.

We are concluding our journey in your province . . . You have welcomed us today.

The day is clear — no winds, no clouds, no rain, no cold, but actually, the African climate is prevailing.

I want to tell you that in Shurugwi, this is where the Smith family and in particular Ian Douglas Smith grew up. This is where the brutal oppressor, Ian Douglas Smith, was nurtured and was looked after by our parents and yet when he grew up, he turned against us and treated our people brutally.

This country is a country of jubilant people . . . We shall forever remain vigilant against those who would want to abuse our hospitality and our humility.

We are a humble and peaceful people, but that does not mean we don’t know our rights.

We will stand up and defend ourselves.

Our DNA, the DNA of the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe, is that we are foreign to defeatism, we never entertain defeatism, and we will never rest until we achieve our objectives. This is why we have this philosophy, which I cannot translate to the Queen’s language — Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo, igotongwa nevene vayo, igonamatirwa nevene vayo.

If God, who is in heaven, hears such a philosophy, he would be happy that my people, whom I gave the land of Zimbabwe, know that Zimbabwe is theirs.

Others were also given their own land.

However, our memories have to reconnect with the rich legacy of our commander, chairman of the High Command, a nationalist, a trainer, a veteran Pan-African soldier, negotiator and national hero, the late General Josiah Magama Tongogara.

His pro-people philosophy, which he taught us in the bush, his leadership approach, his humility and astuteness . . .

We will forever envy him and this is why we have chosen to conclude our campaign for this election here where he was born.

As we celebrated our Heroes and Defence Forces Days on Monday and Tuesday (respectively) in Harare, I mentioned that in Shurugwi, we have built Tongogara Clinic in honour of our late commander, which I have commissioned today.

This province of Midlands has produced many heroes and heroines, and we must, as their followers, remember them and mention their names so that those who come after us will remember that the freedom we enjoy today was brought by heroes and heroines who sacrificed for it.

We will not forget the first Vice President of ZANU, the late Cde Leopold Shumba yeChirumhanzu Takawira; Cde Lameck Chikanga Makanda; Cde Cephas Msipa; Cde Garikai Gary Magadzire; Cde Clement Muneri Muchachi, who came from here.

Cde Akim Mathew Ndlovu, Cde Richard Chemist Hove, Cde Lieutenant General (Rtd) Sibusiso Moyo, Cde Major-General (Rtd) Sydney Vulindlela Bhebhe and Brigadier-General (Rtd) Benjamin Mabenge, among many others. All these are heroes from this province.

Midlands, therefore, cannot be left out when we write the history of the liberation of this country. You made your contribution, so you must be remembered.

I believe that the spirit of those who have gone before us compels us today to continue preaching about their heroism, so that younger generations will not be lost.

Legacy comes from the older generations to the young ones so that our children who will come after us will know where they came from and where they are going.

It is here in the Midlands, during our period of the struggle, our heroes and heroines were subjected to cruel detention at Sikombela and other prisons. It is here in the Midlands province, in Mkoba Hall, Gweru, where in the 1964 Congress of ZANU was convened and a decision to wage an armed struggle was made.

So, you must never look down upon yourselves.

I’m talking about history and I will walk with you until we reach where we are today so that you understand where we are, where we came from and where we intend to go.

And we must move together, leaving no one and no place behind.

ZANU PF is ready and well-prepared for victory on August 23. ZANU PF is unstoppable; victory is certain. However, in our DNA, as a revolutionary party, we preach peace and unity. We say no to violence; those who differ with us are allowed to do it in a diplomatic manner . . .

As ZANU PF, we do not support such people, victory is on the horizon, our victory is certain.

On 23 August, let’s all go and vote. We will be protecting our country, village by village, polling station by polling station, constituency by constituency, right up to the presidency and ensure ZANU PF is victorious.

We are saying we have invited observers from SADC, from the continent and from beyond.

As I say, observers, please come with an open mind, we are a peaceful people.

I am happy that all our political parties that are contesting in the current election have adhered to peaceful electoral processes.

I am happy that so far, almost everybody has promised no violence; this is what it should be. However, we, as the ZANU PF party, are at the forefront of preaching peace and condemning violence.

We say no to any form of violence.

We say no to any hate speech; we are children of one family.

We, ZANU PF, are a colossal revolutionary party; we accept those who had lost their way and welcome them back.

I am happy that so many of our colleagues are back. Identify yourself with the ruling party, not the ruled party.

ZANU PF is a huge pocket and all of us can fit inside. We are delivering development that does not leave anyone behind, despite the sanctions imposed on our country 23 years ago.

We have not looked behind, we have continued to march forward on the basis of our own resources and for the last three years, our economy has been growing at a rate above 5 percent. We are one of the fastest-growing economies in our region.

I want to urge you, the people of Midlands, to remain vigilant and shame those detractors who wish us to be violent, who wish chaos in this country.

Let us shame them by being peaceful.

Let us shame them by being non-violent.

Let us shame them by accepting them in spite of them not wanting ZANU PF to rule.

However, the Lord above knows that.

Our Zimbabwe is a unitary state; we are one people from Zambezi to Limpopo; from Plumtree to Mutare.

This is who we are. No one can ever divide us. We say no to regionalism and no to tribalism.

Love, peace and harmony in our country, this is what we want, that is our heritage.

I am sure our ancestors such King Munhumutapa and Mbuya Nehanda are pleased when they see us gathered here today, united as we are. The ZANU PF Government, our Government under our party, we are entrenching democracy, constitutionalism, good governance and human rights.

I want to make this clear: No one is qualified to teach us democracy.

We were never given our freedom and democracy on a silver platter. We spent 16 solid years of armed struggle for us to become independent. We were fighting for freedom and democracy. So, no one should assume any role of teaching us democracy, because we fought for it; we acquired it ourselves.

It is ZANU PF, the revolutionary party, that has the right to talk about democracy, because we fought for it.

We have the right to talk about independence because we fought for it.

We have the right to talk about sovereignty because we fought for it.

This was our own goal as a people.

Many of our brothers and sisters perished in an armed struggle for us to be free.

No one, no country, especially those beyond our region, should ever teach us democracy.

They can come here and we can teach them democracy, and what democracy is and means because it is very fresh to us.

It is us, and not another country or organisation, who wish for peaceful elections.

It is the people of this country.

It is us, the people of Zimbabwe, who want free, transparent elections.

We are not doing this to please anybody.

We are doing this because we want it ourselves.

No one should come and tell us: “Are your elections free, fair and transparent?”

Nonsense!

It is us who want free elections, fair and transparent elections. We have nothing to hide. We have invited 45 countries, 17 continental regional bodies, as well as all embassies and consulates. In particular, we have invited every single member of our SADC body; they are our sisters and brothers; whatever we do, we share.

We have a similar history. We were all colonised and we fought for our independence and democracy. We welcome these election observer missions to our great country.

They must enjoy our hospitality; our people are very kind. I call upon the observer missions to keep to their terms of reference in the code of conduct of their work, because Zimbabwe remains a sovereign country.

I am aware of two individuals who come to Zimbabwe thinking they can come and teach us. Those who come to teach, come when we invite you and say how can we modernise our agriculture?

If you have better ideas, then you come.

How can we mine our lithium?

If we think you have better ideas and we think you are honest, then we say come.

However, do not come and try to teach us democracy that our brothers and sisters died for.

If you go to that tent, you will find comrades there, some are maimed because of our war for independence. So, give us our due respect as a people. Illegal sanctions were imposed on our motherland, Zimbabwe, 23 years ago, not by the United Nations, no, but by a few individual Western countries.

However, I am saying the people of Zimbabwe initially were worried about these sanctions but they have taught us to think outside the box.

We don’t even feel them anymore; we are building our country at every level, leaving no one and no place behind.

Look at what is happening in our agriculture, we are now food-secure, under sanctions.

Our mining sector has grown from US$2 billion to over US$12 billion, under sanctions.

Our construction, manufacturing and tourism sectors are all growing.

For example, in 2017, we had more imported goods in our shops, but now, we have more quality goods that are made in Zimbabwe, accounting for 80 percent in our supermarkets, under sanctions.

We march on, modernising and industrialising our country under those sanctions.

In fact, we are doing better under these sanctions because we think outside the box.

We are addressing our problems and challenges on the basis of resources given to us by the Lord.

Just think of it, for the first time in our motherland, we are now food-secure, we have surplus maize and wheat under sanctions.

In Midlands, I want to tell you one thing you didn’t know: During the 2022/2023 season, you contributed to the national reserve 413 000 tonnes of maize.

We have introduced several programmes, including the Presidential Climate-Proofed Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme; Agriculture Mechanisation Programme; the Presidential Rural Poultry Scheme; the Presidential Rural Horticulture Programme; the Presidential Tick Grease Programme, as well as the Zunde Ramambo Scheme for our people.

The ZANU PF Government is also setting up rural industries in every province.

Under the Presidential Borehole Drilling Programme, we are going to drill boreholes in each of the 35 000 villages across the country.

For instance, today, as we came here to Shurugwi, we brought many rigs . . . we drilled 115 boreholes and 77 have been fixed.

We have built several bridges, including rehabilitating Flex Bridge in Mberengwa, Gunguhwe in Gokwe and Nyamatiti in Mvuma . . . Manhize Bridge is complete.

Let us move to electricity. We have said goodbye to power shortages.

Hwange Units 7 and 8 give us 600 megawatts, so we have electricity.

We have fuel; we say bye-bye to fuel queues.

We have introduced science-based education so that our girls and boys compete anywhere in the world of science and technology.

We have built many classroom blocks and schools in many districts in our country, including Budiriro, Zvaugwe, Nyaradza and Nyamuroro in the district of Shurugwi.

Under devolution, we have built clinics, small bridges and we have introduced e-passports, and there is no need to travel to Harare for passports anymore. You can apply for passports from your respective area.

ZANU PF has organised leaders. It develops the country.

For the youths, I want to say to them no to mutoriro. No youths can preserve our heritage under the influence of mutoriro.

We were in Angola, where Zimbabwe was appointed vice chair of SADC and next year, Zimbabwe will be the SADC chair.

I want to conclude by saying comrades, ZANU PF is ready to yet again receive the full endorsement and mandate of the people of Zimbabwe through harmonised general elections. We need more time for us to build our motherland.

Zimbabwe is ready to implement social and economic development. We are determined to lift more of our people out of poverty into a higher quality of life, no matter where they live.

ZANU PF will leave no one and no place behind. I once again invite more of our fellow countrymen and countrywomen to join ZANU PF and vote for the ruling party.

We reject a puppet Government; we reject wolves in sheep skin; we reject sellouts.

We have no appetite to be ruled by whites, never, never again. From Zambezi to Limpopo and from Plumtree to Mutare, we are a proud sovereign people of the great Mutapa Empire.

On Wednesday, let us go and vote in our numbers.

Vote for the people’s party; vote ZANU PF, the only party that brought independence, freedom and democracy. The only party that has set the black majority on the path to get what is rightfully theirs, that is the land.

We are now united with our land.

Never ever again shall the people of this country be separated from their land.

We are the only party that is modernising and industrialising, and growing our economy.

Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo.

We are the owners of the country of Zimbabwe.