Zimpapers Logo

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday said he will be inaugurated next week and praised the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for holding a transparent, free and fair election in accordance with the country’s laws.

He said a new Cabinet will be constituted immediately after the inauguration and praised Zimbabweans for maintaining peace before and during elections. This, he said, shamed detractors who expected violent polls.

“No outsider will rule this country through puppets, as Zimbabwe we say no. If the West want their puppets to rule they should first take them to rule in their countries,” President Mnangagwa told Zanu PF supporters at Mukwasi Primary School in Buhera.

“We will never forget our history, where we came from, our people know who brought this democracy. We had our elections in peace, we voted in peace and won in peace, there were some who wanted violence, let’s shame them by maintaining peace.”

The President also put on notice agitators of violence, saying the Government will not hesitate to throw into jail elements that preach hate and are, after losing elections, instigating violence.

In his first public engagement after sailing to victory in the recently concluded harmonized elections, President Mnangagwa said the country’s detractors wanted to see chaos unfolding in the country, but peaceful Zimbabweans shamed them.

“We went through our electoral process peacefully, transparently and a fair process was administered by ZEC, we would like to thank ZEC. They stood steadfastly and resolutely guided by the laws they are armed with.”

The President said with the nation having overwhelmingly voted for Zanu PF, all is now set for the inauguration in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe.

He also said violent machinations of the country’s enemies and their local lackeys will come to naught as the governing party is marching ahead with its development agenda notwithstanding the usual noises from opposition losing candidates.

“We are going forward with our development plans and programs, we will not stop because of noises from some little boys. They will continue making that noise but we shall continue to move on,” President Mnangagwa said.

“I warn anybody who wants to be nonsensical and bring chaos in this country, we are ready to deal with any chaos. Anyone who preaches hate speech shall be responsible for their hate speech, our prisons are not full. We want peace, we want unity, we want development. Those who disagree with Zanu PF do so quietly and peacefully, tinofamba tese zvakanaka, asi ukaita mhesvamukono tinokuveza.”

Earlier during the day, President Mnangagwa had commissioned the Sabi Star Lithium Floatation Plant.

He said Zimbabweans in their numbers voted for Zanu PF and when the results were announced by ZEC, some losing candidates were claiming victory despite a lack of evidence to back their claims.

President Mnangagwa added that people overwhelmingly voted for Zanu PF because the party has the people’s interests at heart and will continue to initiate development that leaves no one and no place behind, including in areas where people voted for the opposition.

Zanu PF, he said, has a record of delivering, unlike opposition parties that lack ideological grounding and have nothing to offer the electorate but fake promises.

“During the elections, we had observers from different countries, they all said they had never witnessed such peaceful elections. However, there were few individuals who had their pre-conceived ideas and now they are desperate because what they thought would happen did not happen.

“They thought that there would be violence but we held peaceful elections, we voted in peace. ZEC stood firm and resolute. There were some who came and bribed our journalists and others but still Zanu PF won the elections. If you stand for the people, the people will stand with you.”

President Mnangagwa said the Government will continue to develop the rural areas as the country seeks to attain its vision of becoming an upper middle-class economy by 2030.

“The next five years under Zanu PF Government, we want to develop our rural areas. We want food security, as a country we have enough food in our reserves,” he said.

Zimbabwe held its elections on August 23 and President Mnangagwa invited observers from across the world with 169 observers being accredited.

So far the Commonwealth observer mission, South Africa, Nambia, and Botswana have hailed the recently ended elections.

The President’s first term was characterized by development projects encompassing the construction of roads, dams, modernization, and industrialization, and yesterday he said that his mission and noises from losers will not stop the Zanu PF development march.

President Mnangagwa was accompanied by Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, Zanu PF Politburo members and incoming legislators mostly from Manicaland province.

The Herald