Republic of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and First Lady Amai Grace at the ZANU-PF campaign launch in Highfield. The rally took place on July 5, 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
West angling to destabilise elections — President
Thursday, 25 July 2013 01:49
Takunda Maodza Senior Reporter
WESTERN nations are angling to discredit the harmonised elections, but Zimbabweans must remain peaceful and steadfast, President Mugabe said yesterday.
Addressing thousands of Zanu-PF supporters in Norton yesterday, the party’s First Secretary and President said the West was bent on destabilising the electoral process.
“Musi wa31 (July) wasvika, isvondo rinouya. Tinenge tonzi chivhotai. Iyezvino tine macandidates kuno variko VaMutsvangwa varikumirira kuno. Ndanga ndichitaura nezvazuro. Tiri vanhu vanoda kuramba vachizvitonga.
“Hatidi kuva zvimbwasungata zvemabhunu. Iyezvino ibasa rakawanda ririkuitwa nevari kunze, kuda kukanganisa maelections edu.”
The West intensified efforts to discredit the elections in light of Zanu-PF’s highly subscribed star rallies with various US think-tanks convening a conference organised by the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington DC on Monday to discuss the elections.
The NED, which is a major conduit for US regime change funds to quasi-political groups in Zimbabwe, met to discuss MDC-T’s wish list of media and security sector reforms, among other issues, and was expected to condemn preparations for the elections.
The NED meeting coincided with the release on Sunday of a dossier that purported to detail an intricate plot by President Mugabe and Zanu-PF to rig the harmonised elections.
The British paper, Daily Mail, made sensational claims that Zanu-PF planned “to steal millions of votes with massive and systematic ballot-rigging combined with widespread intimidation by party thugs.’’
MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and his Western allies have been making unsubstantiated claims of vote-rigging over the past few weeks, a development analysts said was meant to create self-fulfilling prophecies ahead of imminent defeat in the harmonised elections.
President Mugabe yesterday told the crowd that Zimbabwe’s detractors were working hard to undermine the election process.
He said political leaders from various parties agreed to encourage their supporters to remain peaceful.
“Kana vanaTsvangirai varikutaurawo nezverunyararo. So all of us are talking of the election process being peaceful,” President Mugabe said.
He told the West to leave Zimbabwe alone.
“Ndokusaka tichiti stay away from us. Nanhasi wese unonzwa kuBritish Parliament vanoda kutaura nezvedu. Muri vanaani? Hamunyari. Ku America zvimwechetezvo. Hakuna democracy kuZimbabwe, hakuna chii? Hakuna democracy? KuAmerica makarakasha maRed Indians, kuvarakasha semhuka dzemusango. Democracy inotaurwa navanhu ivavo? Mukatapa vanhu vedu kubva muAfrica muno kuenda muhutapwa nanhasi vanoonekwa sevanhu varipasi.”
The President said the white skin reigned supreme in America even today.
“There is racial discrimination in America, they cannot deny it. A lot of it. Vatema vazhinji vari mujeri. Ivo vanotiudza kuti there are more blacks in prisons in America than those in universities.
“So how does this come about? Nyika dzevamwe vanopindira. Their appetite for wealth and dominance is insatiable. Havagute.”
President said the West’s hostility on other sovereign nations was evidenced by events in Iraq and Libya where they toppled democratically elected governments and went further to loot their resources.
He said he was hopeful that Zimbabwe would successfully hold its elections on July 31 despite consented efforts by the West to destabilise the process.
“So on the 31st of July, we are sure that if this process goes the way it has begun, the peaceful way it has begun, the elections will surely be peaceful. But our detractors have been talking of, oh no, the situation in Zimbabwe is a disturbed one.
“Ndizvo zvavari kutaura kunanaBritain. They are saying so, that things are not well in Zimbabwe. Are not well? Ipo pano mamanikidzwa here kuuya? Aiwa. You came freely to this meeting. There was no pressure exerted on you. No violence was used to drive you to this meeting. Saka tinofara rambai makadaro. Rambai michizvibata kudaro,” he said.
“Tingave here vanhu vanonzi number one padzidzo muno muAfrica asi tochizonzi, ah, varinumber one zvavo asi kana totaura nezvokubatana fototo. Haiwa, ngativei number one even in the way we associate. Tive neruzivo rwokuti vanhu vanosarudza vavanoda.”
He urged the electorate to vote wisely by electing Zanu-PF candidates as the party’s policies were people centred.
“Imi mochenjera takakanganisa 2008. Tokanganisa zvekare 2013? Tigonzi tirivanhu vakaita sei? Kunganisa vanhu vanokanganisa pahupenyu asi tinosungirwa kuva ne that consciousness yokuziva kuti this was wrong.
“If you do a wrong thing, your consciousness must tell you that you did a wrong thing and you must make amends. Hameno, everybody is free to think and free to vote. Tirikungoti kana muri nhengo dziri pachokwadi vamwe imember dzedu vanoziva zvinangwa zvedu zvekatarisana nezvinangwazvevanhu vedu. Ndizvo zvatinoda kuzadzisa nguva nenguva,” President Mugabe said.
He outlined some of the key issues a Zanu-PF Government would address among them black economic empowerment, addressing the situation at the Chiadzwa diamond mines, assisting small-scale miners, improving service delivery in all sectors of the economy and the cancellation of bills owed to municipalities by residents across the country.
“Mabatirwe atinoitwa, macompanies ese tinoda kuagadzirisa. Kungoda kwose uku kumadiamonds kunoda kugadziriswa zvikurusa. Hatisi kufara nezvirikutwa ikoko. Hatisi kufara negold mining. Madzimai nanababa vanokorokoza vaye vanotengesa goridhe ravanowana kune vanopinda chinyararire vachibva kuSouth Africa panzvimbo yekunge goridhe iroro richienda kuReserve Bank pamusana pokuti havana kurongwa
zvakanaka. Tinoda kuti varongwe zvakanaka kuve nekukorokoza kunobatsirwa nehurumende,” he said.
On bills owed to municipalities by residents, President Mugabe said: “Ikozvino takati zvikwereti zvanga zviripo pasi nazvo.”
He said there was no better candidate for Norton constituency than Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa and urged the electorate to vote for him along with other Zanu-PF candidates across the country.
President Mugabe said Cde Mutsvangwa was a committed Zimbabwean who fought for the country’s liberation and made immense contribution to the nation even after independence.
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