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Cde Sibanda

Prosper Ndlovu Senior Reporter
THE forthcoming harmonised elections on 31 July are like a “war” between God and the devil, which Zanu-PF must fight to win at all costs, war veterans leader Cde Jabulani Sibanda said yesterday. In an interview in Bulawayo, Cde Sibanda said the gains of the liberation struggle were under threat if Zimbabweans allowed MDC formations to take full control of the country.
He said Zanu-PF was a God-fearing party that upholds biblical moral ethics and is strongly opposed to “evil” tendencies that are being advanced by other parties.

Cde Sibanda said the country has come to a level that requires all progressive Zimbabweans to vote in large numbers for a Zanu-PF Government to preserve the revolution.

“We were in the struggle as war veterans, a protracted armed struggle where we tenaciously fought the enemy to liberate our people. Now the struggle is at another level. It is more of a spiritual struggle than a physical one,” said Cde Sibanda.

“On one side there are many parties that have ganged against Zanu-PF and are advocating for gay marriages. They want to turn Zimbabwe into Sodom and Gomorrah. As freedom fighters, we believe in God and we are saying no to such parties.

“We believe God created us and gave us dominion over our land but we have parties that call for sanctions on our people and want us to be dominated by foreigners. That is why we are saying this is more of a spiritual battle and we are going to win it because God is on our side.”

Cde Sibanda said the elections would be a fierce contest for sound development ideas and urged voters to rally behind Zanu-PF, a party with a traceable record of bringing progress in the country.

He said the empowerment centred election manifesto, which President Mugabe launched in Harare on Friday, captures the aspirations of the masses.

Said Cde Sibanda: “Our manifesto is derived from the revolutionary ideals, which we continue to fulfil. It is a people’s manifesto that seeks to have indigenous Zimbabweans being in charge of their resources.

“The Zanu-PF Government has built more schools, more universities, clinics and hospitals in the last 30 years than the Rhodesian settler regime did in 100 years.”

Cde Sibanda said war veterans would always identify themselves with revolutionary leaders in defence of the country’s independence.
“When we fought the liberation struggle, we were labelled terrorists. In year 2000, we took the struggle to another level and embarked on the land reform programme and some people labelled us invaders and all sorts of names.

“Now the revolution is on another level and still there are some who call us names. As freedom fighters, we will never relent,” said Cde Sibanda.
With only three weeks left before the elections, Zanu-PF members have already moved full gear in mobilising support for the party across the provinces.

President Mugabe, who is Zanu-PF’s Presidential candidate, has also described this year’s poll as the “battle of our lives” which the revolutionary party must win resoundingly.

He expressed confidence that the calibre of party candidates in the different constituencies would win back all the seats the party lost to MDC formations in 2008.