Zimbabwe: Let's Map Winning Strategy Together, President Mugabe Says

Republic of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe lighting the torch in Harare on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of Independence. The event was on April 18, 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Let’s map winning strategy together: President

Friday, 05 July 2013 02:59
Takunda Maodza Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

ZANU-PF candidates must engage cadres they defeated in the primary elections and together map a winning strategy for the harmonised elections to help curb the Bhora Musango syndrome, President Mugabe has said. The President urged unity of purpose in Zanu-PF saying revolutionaries can never avoid each other. The President, who was
addressing the Central Committee in Harare yesterday, spoke as yet another party cadre who had filed papers to stand as an independent, Cde Rumbidzai Mujuru, officially withdrew her candidature at ZEC to throw her weight behind official candidate Cde Felex Mhona in Chikomba Central.

This brought to nine out of 12, the Zanu-PF cadres who officially withdrew their candidature with ZEC as poll preparations gather momentum.

President Mugabe said the party’s organs must play a key role in uniting candidates who won and those who lost in the primary elections to ensure the Zanu-PF machine is well oiled and ready to register a resounding victory.

“The duty that we all have now and especially those of us who have won and been nominated to stand for the party is to ensure that those who opposed us will support us. You have to sit with them individually and talk. Work out a common strategy so that there is no Bhora Musango.

“Let us win them over. We must go into the election battle united,” he said.

The President appealed to Zanu-PF organs to also play a part in the unification process.

“Apart from individuals, our organs must now also assist the process of unity by appealing to those who lost to become supportive of those who won and support the national struggle. This election is a national struggle,” he said.

President Mugabe encouraged those candidates who are in better positions financially to assist candidates in need.

“Let us also try as much as possible if we are in a better situation financially to assist those in situations of need . . .

“All of us must arouse the people’s revolutionary enthusiasm which I noticed from the queues we had exist among us. Get as many people to vote as possible.

“Every one of our voters must go and mark properly his or her X on the candidates that we are sponsoring to win,” he said.

President Mugabe congratulated Zanu-PF for successfully and peacefully holding primary elections.

“Congratulations for a job well done. I knew we could do it.

“I knew we could get back to what we were — the makers of a revolution, the makers of a struggle and the creators of Zimbabwe. Be united for unity has always been the calling of the leadership, the leadership present, the leadership past. Let us unite. Unity is our strength. We unite for a purpose.

“True, as people with one destiny we cannot avoid each other. We are members of this wonderful country we have christened Zimbabwe and so wherever we are, we talk Zimbabwe, we sleep and dream Zimbabwe. When we wake up it is Zimbabwe that says good morning . . . ”

He reiterated that the country must go for elections on July 31 as he does not want to rule by decree and castigated the MDC formation for seeking a delay of the polls.
He dismissed the argument that people needed more time to register as voters saying voter registration does not require a long period to be done.

The President reiterated the need for Zanu-PF to ensure a resounding victory in the harmonised elections saying the party went into an inclusive Government with incompatible political partners because it did not perform well in the 2008 elections, a scenario he said must be avoided this time around.

He, however, noted that the inclusive Government was a strategic retreat for Zanu-PF.

“Yes, we have had four and half years, going to be five years perhaps, of this ugly creature — the global national union or inclusive Government that we went into because we had slept and missed our revolutionary step . . . A disastrous fall.

“It was a sudden one from which we rose and looked around and said the time demands that we use tactics. Some might not have understood us but revolutionaries when they suffer a reversal they do not call it defeat. It was time for us to reflect and assess the mistake we made along the way and try to win as much support as possible.

“It was time for us to walk cautiously . . . All this after humiliation of having to work with those who never believed in the ideals of the revolutionary struggle. If you are to supper with the devil you must have a long spoon. We had a very long spoon indeed and we knew how to use it to feed ourselves,” President Mugabe said.

He said while in the inclusive Government Zanu-PF remained united and did not sacrifice its people centred principles as it was the people that supported the liberation war that brought independence.

President Mugabe said the inclusive Government was a well calculated Zanu-PF political strategy.

“We needed a strategy and it was that strategy that saw us work with those who did not believe in our ideals and objectives.

“These principles are sacrosanct we do not surrender them. The land is ours we can never surrender it or let it go back in the hands of the enemy. Natural resources are part of the land.”

He said the impression initially created by Zanu-PF agreeing to a coalition with its political foes was that of surrender.

“No. It was a backward step we had taken in order for us to recover.

“The moment has come indeed for us to assert ourselves once again and say we are out of this shell. We are growing out of this shell, global national whatever, and we want to become ourselves. Pure, pure, pure revolutionaries.

“Those who believe in the ideals that are sacred meant for true Zimbabweans who believe in themselves, who believe in their destiny. They are the ones we call our own. Those who refuse to join us because they are attracted by niceties of Europeans or Americans well, hard luck. They would be strangers in their own country.

“We have taken the initial step to demonstrate that we are still what we were yesterday and so those who despised us and thought we would change we do not change colour.

We can never be white. It was destiny that we remain black. We are Africans. We cannot change being revolutionaries,” President Mugabe said.

He challenged Zimbabweans to safeguard their God given sacred rights and be prepared to fight the enemy who interferes with ownership of their resources.

President Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to be peaceful during the harmonised elections like what happened during the referendum.

“Finally, let it be a peaceful exercise. Peace, peace, peace. No violence. We do not want observers to go away with the impression we won because we were using violence. That must be avoided. We had a referendum which was very peaceful. Our own primaries were also very peaceful. Let just the numbers talk.”

Zanu-PF launches its election campaign and manifesto at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, Harare, today.