PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday led Zanu-PF to a new
culture of politics, discouraging the singing of praise songs to glorify him
but instead urged the party members to sing the national anthem and the all
embracing liberation songs.
Officially opening the Zanu-PF Extra-Ordinary Congress
here, President Mnangagwa said his ascendancy to the Presidency was neither
regional nor factional victory as his mandate is to serve all Zimbabweans.
President Mnangagwa called for unity and discipline within
the party and said the party should reinvents its politics to be in sync with
war time templates and practices that won the country’s liberation and made
Zanu-PF the party of choice for the majority since independence.
“The role you have given me and the office you have
inserted me into, can never be partitioned to anyone. The praise song I desire,
if you were to sing one, is that of our national anthem and those from the
liberation struggle not for myself, no. If you sing the national anthem, if you
sing those national songs then me and you are together,” said President
Mnangagwa.
“In light of the above, regionalism, factionalism, and
titles such as “G-40” and “Lacoste” must be condemned and migrate from the body
of our Party forthwith.
“As the leadership of the party gathered in this Extra
Ordinary Session of Congress let us commit to unite the party membership.”
President Mnangagwa emphasised the supremacy of the party
constitution calling on members to adhere to it.
“In line with this instruction therefore, my ascendance to
the helm of the party must never be interpreted as a defeat of one faction and
installation of another.
“My presidency should not be perceived as a rise in the
fortunes of a region, a tribe or a totem. My presidency is about a united
Zanu-PF, a national party with a national outlook,” said President Mnangagwa.
“I stand therefore as the President of a united, non-racial
Zimbabwe, itself home to many tongues, dialects, cultures, colours and age
groups.
“I am a President of women and men; the young and the old;
the able-bodied and physically challenged; the rich and the poor; the well and
the sick. I am an emissary of all the veterans and heroes, dead or alive, who
through their blood sketched the cause and mission which my presidency must
promote, must actualise and advance.”
President Mnangagwa said the ruling party enjoys a special
relationship with the people dating back to the days of the liberation
struggle.
“This fact of Zanu PF’s special status and standing as the
party of national liberation makes it a national heritage and courier of a
national legacy and above all, a definer of our country’s future,” he said.
“Thus, Zanu PF as the governing party makes and requires it
to be a national home for all.
“It must also be an instrument available for a national
purpose and destiny. Zanu-PF can therefore, not exclude, divide or fragment,
nor be allowed to sag or succumb for lack of foresighted leadership.”
President Mnangagwa reiterated that Zanu-PF must thrive on
championing the needs of the people.
He encouraged freedom of expression within the party to
promote democracy at all levels.
“Party structures from the cell/village levels right up to
the Central Committee must be platforms in which the membership discusses
freely without fear or favour matters concerning the party as well as
developmental issues which affect their communities and the nation at large,”
said President Mnangagwa.
“Equally elections at all levels of the party must be
undertaken as guided by the rules and regulations of the party, free of chicanery, manipulation
and favouritism.”
President Mnangagwa also emphasised that the country will
hold free and fair elections, predicting a crushing victory for the
revolutionary ZanuPF saying there was no opposition to talk about.
“In the planning and conducting of these elections our
position as the ruling party demands that we carry the nation we liberated,
securing all who live within its borders, upholding the national constitution,
laws and values as well as defending and safeguarding our country’s
sovereignty,” said President Mnangagwa.
“Above all, we must ensure peace over our land, towards
whose nurturing and preservation, we must spare no effort.” Chronicle
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