ZANU PF is pulling out all stops for President Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s first rally since the disputed July 30 elections which will be held
in former President Robert Mugabe’s home area, three days after the first
anniversary of a military coup that forced his resignation.
Party provincial chairperson and Justice minister Ziyambi
Ziyambi told a provincial co-ordinating committee meeting last week that the
rally would be a celebration of the demise of the “G40 cabal”.
G40, believed to have been Mugabe’s brainchild, was a
faction within Zanu PF that up to November last year engaged in a fierce power
struggle with Team Lacoste fronted by then Vice-President Mnangagwa.
“The President has directed that all MPs must thank the
people for voting for them in July. He will lead by example by coming to
Mashonaland West, the epicenter of the G40 cabal to the 313 000 people who
voted for him.
“It is cause for celebration that President Mnangagwa got
more votes than the former President (Mugabe) ever got in the province despite
the fact that this (Mashonaland West) is the G40 birthplace,” Ziyambi told
provincial leaders according to an official who attended the meeting.
Ziyambi was not immediately available for comment
yesterday.
Insiders also said besides celebrating the poll victory,
the rally was Mnangagwa’s cunning way of sending a clear message to Mugabe that
he was now in charge.
“It is a clear message to the former President that Mugabe
has to accept the new reality. The choice of Mugabe’s home area to stage the
first ‘thank you’ rally is not a mistake. You will remember that when he was
appointed Vice-President in 2014, his first stop was his home province of
Midlands. This choice is instructive,” the official told NewsDay.
Zanu PF provincial vice-chairperson Dexter Nduna said the
numbers who voted for Mnangagwa in the elections alone were cause for
celebration.
“Yes we are celebrating our victory and have asked all
districts to make transport arrangements for a resounding rally for the
President. Many had claimed we would lose Mashonaland West to the opposition,
but we worked hard. The opposition, even with support from the G40 failed,”
Nduna said.
But the ruling party’s spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo
yesterday said Zanu PF will not be celebrating the anniversary of Mugabe’s
forced departure.
“There is no need for us to celebrate. We are not stuck in
the past and the President (Mnangagwa) has been very clear. We should let
bygones be bygones. Zanu PF is concentrating on the revival of the economy and
not personalities,” Khaya Moyo said.
“The rally is one of many that will come to thank our
supporters for the crushing victory in July.”
Opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa was also in
Mashonaland West at the weekend “consulting” his supporters ahead of planned
mass action against the declining economic situation in the country.
Chamisa has already been to Marondera in Mashonaland East
as well as Beitbridge in Matabeleland South. Newsday
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