GWERU: The triumph of the ruling Zanu PF party in the Zimbabwean general election in August was a resounding vote of confidence in the government, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Friday.
Mnangagwa when opening the 20th Annual National People’s Conference of the party here, said the elections were conducted freely, peacefully, and fairly, demonstrating the confidence that the people of Zimbabwe had in Zanu-PF and its government.
He said that only Zanu-PF could lead the country, which is under severe western sanctions, to a prosperous future through hard work, unity, and effective development policies.
“Our hard work and unity of purpose saw us realize the well-deserved and emphatic victory. The people of Zimbabwe spoke loudly and freely through their democratic right to vote, which remains our inheritance from the sacred blood of many departed sons and daughters of our nation,“ said Mnangagwa, referring to the armed struggle waged by blacks to free the country from British colonial rule in which tens of thousands died.
“The collective voice of our people gave Zanu PF a new five-year mandate to serve the people of our motherland, leaving no one and no place behind. Their collective vote must be respected and safeguarded,“ he was reported as saying by Zimbabwe’s New Ziana agency.
President Mnangagwa won the elections with 52.8 percent of the vote. He noted that the Zanu PF family was meeting at the conference in a celebratory mood, having fought off a challenge from the opposition in the elections.
He highlighted that holding the party’s conference in Gweru was symbolic, as it was in this city that Zanu-PF made the decision to wage an armed struggle against colonial rule in 1964.
“That critical decision set the tone for scaled-up military resistance and direct confrontation of the brutal and racist colonial regime of Ian Smith. Party cadres and the membership in general should never forget this rich liberation war heritage,“ he concluded. - Bernama.
