Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe Makes Call For Upholding Unity Amid March 29 Electio

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Uphold unity, says President

Bulawayo Bureau
Zimbabwe Herald

ZIMBABWEANS must uphold unity and avoid riding on bandwagons of doom,
President Mugabe has said.

Addressing a rally at Phakamani Secondary School in Plumtree,
Matabeleland South Province, to drum up support for the ruling party
ahead of the March 29 harmonised elections, Cde Mugabe said unity was
vital.

"Unity is fundamental. We must be a united people. We must have the
spirit of oneness among us that is felt everywhere. You may be Kalanga,
Zezuru, Manyika, Venda . . . this or that tribe, but one fundamental
bond we have is that of national unity.

"You are a Zimbabwean. You can travel from here to Gweru, Zimbabwe,
Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, Marondera, Zimbabwe, right up to Mutare, it’s your
country. Every part of it is your country now,’’ he said.

"You can dance amabhiza, isitshikitsha, it is my dance. Jerusarema is
also my dance, muchongoyo at Checheche in Chipinge, where we were a few
days ago, is also my dance.

"It’s culture. We have this diversity of culture. As a result of this
diversity, Zimbabwe is rich in culture. Whether you dance isitshikitsha
or whatever, we all fly one flag and sing one national anthem, which the
kids were singing for us here. We are one," he said.

Cde Mugabe said there were two important things that some of the
founding fathers of the nation, the late Vice-Presidents Joshua Nkomo
and Simon Muzenda, always harped on: unity and land to the people.

"I shall always remember and remember that this land has come about
because of immense sacrifices by our people," he said.

The President said he worked closely with "Umdala uNkomo and Umdala
uMuzenda’’.

"Along the way there was fighting. It is regretted,’’ he said, referring
to post-independence disturbances in Matabeleland and Midlands regions.

"We re-united ourselves and reminded ourselves that we are one people.
There is need for us not to let go on the land and unity," Cde Mugabe
said.

He said the two issues were so dear to Cde Nkomo that even when he was
on his deathbed, he still spoke about them.

"I remember visiting Umdala Nkomo at hospital and he told me to
remember, ‘land, land, land’, and ‘unity, unity, unity’ and I will never
forget that. To me, as long as I live, I commit myself to that. I can
sacrifice for that. I will never surrender to Blair, Brown or Bush and
his American army. I will tell them Zimbabwe is for the people of
Zimbabwe and can never be a colony again,’’ said Cde Mugabe to applause.

At an earlier briefing attended by senior party members in the province
before addressing the rally, Cde Mugabe said he was surprised that
Dumiso Dabengwa had chosen to follow expelled Simba Makoni, who is
standing as an independent presidential candidate in the elections.

"Why should Cde Dumiso have done that in this divergent way? But such
things are to be expected in struggles. I can’t understand what the real
motivation is,’’ said Cde Mugabe to applause.

"Don’t ride on a bandwagon which is destined to doom and you know it’s
doomed. So why support that?

"What makes me rather feel upset is that Makoni was never in the
limelight. We picked him as a student and sent him to Europe. We all
know he didn’t come from the grassroots. Dumiso came from the
grassroots.

"I can’t understand why he chose to follow a little man like Makoni,"
said the President.

Zanu-PF Matabeleland South provincial chairman Cde Rido Mpofu told
President Mugabe that members of the party in the province were "not
part of the defectors’’.

Cde Mpofu also told Cde Mugabe that the ruling party would win
resoundingly in the harmonised polls.

He said Zanu-PF won 24 wards unopposed when the Nomination Court sat in
the province but one ward in Beitbridge fell to the opposition "because
of a careless mistake’’.

In response, Cde Mugabe said the election campaign was important.

"The campaign is very important in defending the gains of our
revolution, gains of our struggle, the victory we got in 1980, the land
which is in our hands, the freedom we are enjoying, the right of our
people to determine their future, the right of our people to choose who
they want to govern them. We brought democracy.

"The British should not teach us democracy. We endured all kinds of
suffering . . . and even though (Ian) Smith said there would never be
majority rule in a thousand years and later changed to in ‘my lifetime’,
we got it in his lifetime.

"He only died yesterday. According to Nkrumah, a good imperialist is a
dead one,’’ he said. Cde Mugabe said the British were "throwing lots of
money’’ as part of "mechanisms to divide us’’.

‘‘We have to be astute, resilient, and alert and demonstrate in a
physical way that we are strong, not to stand and box them. There is no
room for that nor is it desirable. On 29 March we should deliver a blow
. . . a vote that will dismay the British, although it may not disarm
them. Make them feel the pain of supporting MDC and Makoni," he said.

Later addressing the rally, Cde Mugabe condemned merchants of regime
change.

"It is they (the people of Zimbabwe) who can bring about regime change
not you erstwhile imperialists, stay away,’’ he said.

He said he was aware of the challenges posed by sanctions, which the
people were enduring.

Cde Mugabe said Government would continue empowering the people through
provision of infrastructure such as clinics, hospitals, schools,
universities and polytechnics as it had done since the attainment of
independence in 1980.

He said Government wanted every province to have at least a State
university, polytechnic and a vocational training centre.

"When I was a teacher at Empandeni Mission in 1945, I was only 21 years
old then, Plumtree High School was a white man’s school, it was purely
for white children. Now it is ours,’’ said Cde Mugabe.

He said following the land reform programme, the next priority was the
mining sector.

"The mines are still under the control of white companies, European
companies. We want to indigenise them,’’ said President Mugabe.

He said legislation was in place for the indigenisation of the mining
sector.

Cde Mugabe said Government would also set up facilities for
concessionary funding for the setting-up of small to medium-scale
industries and "bigger factories’’ to generate employment.

He said this would ensure that young people living in border areas like
Plumtree do not "jump the border’’ to seek for employment in
neighbouring South Africa, although he pointed out that the phenomenon
of seeking employment in the neighbouring country was not new in the
Bulilima and Mangwe districts.

"In the 1940s when I was teaching here, you would find families without
men. They would all be working in the mines in South Africa,’’ Cde
Mugabe said.

Cde Mugabe commended the party’s leadership from the area for travelling
to South Africa to "re-orient’’ locals working there.

A group of Zimbabweans from Bulilima and Mangwe districts are reported
to be building a state-of-the-art motel in the border town and plan to
also set up a funeral parlour, upgrade the long distance bus terminus in
the town as well as build a complex that will house Zanu-PF offices in
Plumtree.

Commenting on the economy, Cde Mugabe said Government was addressing the
issue of prices of basic commodities and power outages.

"We want to arrest the price increases and reverse this inflationary
trend which is in our country, eating into our wages. We are also
looking at the transport system. Our roads are not in good shape
following heavy rains for two-and-a-half months. We have started
repairing some of them (roads), especially the District Development Fund
ones. But we have the main roads which have potholes and require either
to be resurfaced or redone with bitumen to make them usable and
durable,’’ he said.

He said Government was now importing heavy-duty generators and looking
at plans to boost the country’s production of hydro and thermal
electricity.

"Although we are short of electricity, South Africa is worse than
ourselves. Shortages are more endemic there than there are here,’’ said
Cde Mugabe.

"Some of the generators that have been imported might be given tomorrow
(today) in Harare,’’ added the President.

Earlier, the Matabeleland South Governor, Cde Angeline Masuku, had told
President Mugabe that people from Bulima and Mangwe were happy with the
agricultural mechanisation programme but wanted the allocation to be
done in a transparent manner as some people who were given tractors
"were just parking them’’.

The President said there was need to accelerate the rural
electrification programme including the provision of electricity to
chiefs’ homesteads as part of efforts to upgrade the status of the
traditional leaders who were "custodians of our culture and African
law’’.

Cde Mugabe, who was earlier briefed of the looming food shortages in the
Bulilima and Mangwe districts, said Government would ensure that no one
starves.

"We don’t want anyone to collapse and die because of hunger,’’ he said.

He had explained during the briefing that apart from maize grain being
imported from Malawi and Zambia, there were "several thousands of tonnes
that would be coming from South Africa’’ and the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe had already set aside US$3 million for the consignment.

As part of his national information technology programme, Cde Mugabe
gave five secondary schools from Matobo 10 computers each.

In his vote of thanks, Chief Madlambudzi thanked President Mugabe for
his wise stewardship of the county saying ‘‘Cde Mugabe ndintate wedu’’
in Kalanga.

Cde Mugabe and the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe received a rousing
welcome when they arrived at the venue of the rally.

They were accompanied by Zanu-PF National Commissar Cde Elliot Manyika.
Zanu-PF Politburo member and Minister of Information and Publicity Cde
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu also graced the occasion.

Addressing another rally at Esibomvu Business Centre in Umzingwane
District, President Mugabe said the Government’s long awaited heifer
scheme as part of the restocking exercise begins in Harare today with
the Matabeleland region receiving a significant number of beasts.

He said the agricultural mechanisation programme was still in progress
and Government would today distribute more implements such as tractors,
ploughs, scotch-carts and generators as it continues to empower people.

"We want a culture of growing birds, growing sheep, growing cattle. So,
in regard to cattle, I was informed that there are heifers for
distribution tomorrow (today). I don’t know how many thousands there
are, but I’m sure Matabeleland will receive some, as it is known for
cattle ranching. There will be heifers for Matabeleland," said the
President amid applause from the crowd.

He said the elections were crucial because they presented Zimbabweans an
opportunity to defend themselves, their rights, future and legacy.

"Your vote should ensure that your support will not be shaken by anyone.
That you are your own rulers because you are your own liberators and you
continue to defend your land and the movement which led you. You
continue to defend the party that brought land into your hands, the
chiefs, the farmers," said the President.

The President later donated computers to 15 schools in Insiza and Gwanda
districts.