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Vice President Chiwenga with his wife

Nduduzo Tshuma in Masvingo
VICE President General Constantino Chiwenga (Retired) yesterday called on Masvingo not to let President Emmerson Mnangagwa down but rally behind him in the July 30 elections so that Zanu-PF romps to an emphatic victory.

Addressing a bumper crowd of party supporters at the Mucheke B Arena in Masvingo, VP Chiwenga said the province not only carries great significance in that it is where the country’s name is derived but is where President Mnangagwa carried out his first operation during the days of the liberation war.

President Mnangagwa was part of the “Crocodile Gang” which bombed a Rhodesian goods train in Masvingo in 1964 leading to his arrest and detention. He survived the hangman’s noose due to his tender age at the time.

“We held the meeting here because of symbolical significance. This place is sacred,” said VP Chiwenga.

He explained that the podium was facing a mountain on the east where President Mnangagwa hid among members of the Apostolic sect after bombing the train.

“They came here in Masvingo, went to Bikita and came back to town and saw a train and decided that it was the perfect target for attack. A train was like an aeroplane to us blacks at the time,” said VP Chiwenga.

“You see the mountain over there, they found members of the apostolic sect and knelt with them.”

VP Chiwenga, who was narrating President Mnangagwa’s liberation history, said the Head of State and his colleagues were later arrested and tortured resulting in one of his ears being damaged that up to this day, it can’t hear properly.

“So if you fail to vote wisely with such a rich history can’t you see that you would have given yourself an insurmountable burden? You are the ones who carry the history of the country. The name of the country came from you, again behind there is Great Zimbabwe,” he said.

VP Chiwenga said after arrest, President Mnangagwa was sentenced to death but escaped the gallows by a whisker hence his stance against the death penalty.

“I heard some saying that I have differed with the President on the death penalty but I said his cell was the last towards the place of execution so he could hear when a person was being taken for execution and know that that they were dead.

“We (the new administration) have not executed anyone, we have people who have been sentenced to death but we haven’t executed anyone,” he said.

VP Chiwenga said when President Mnangagwa, before his ascension to the position of Head of State, was appointed Vice President of the country, he introduced the Command Agriculture programme that saw the country having grain reserves for the first time in many years.

“The country used to buy maize year after year but when he came he said let us tackle hunger because the country could not succeed when it begs on a year basis. That marked the start of Command Agriculture which brought about good harvest and gave the country its first grain reserves in many years,” he said.

VP Chiwenga said the command programme had spread to many sectors because of the visionary leadership of President Mnangagwa.

“Since his inauguration on 24 November, now within seven months, Zimbabwe is developing like never before. There has never been a time that we had attracted investments of $500 million but now we are talking of billions because of his leadership styles.

“Now you see 23 people want to be President. It’s because they are seeing that the country is going forward and are saying let us try. Zimbabwe will be called Zimbabwe when it is led by Cde Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. He is our candidate for Zanu-PF, he was chosen by the gods to lead us,” said VP Chiwenga.