The day Zanu PF came to Zibagwe

Politics
BOB Swift is a little known communal shopping point some 30km outside Kwekwe along the narrow road which stretches through the Zibagwe-Chirumanzu constituency, linking the community to Mvuma.

BOB Swift is a little known communal shopping point some 30km outside Kwekwe along the narrow road which stretches through the Zibagwe-Chirumanzu constituency, linking the community to Mvuma.

Blessed Mhlanga Staff Reporter

The quiet and serene environment is named after a former farmer, Bob Swift, known in Kwekwe for the sweet oranges once produced at the farm.

This was the place Zanu PF and its candidate for the constituency, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s wife Auxillia, chose to launch the March 27 by-election campaign, turning it momentarily into a sea of plenty, opulence, power and luxury.

The usually sleepy Mvuma Road rose to life, as over a hundred MPs from Zanu PF came into town in flashy all-terrain Ford Rangers to the farm now owned by Cabinet secretary Misheck Sibanda.

Ministers and other wealthy Zanu PF members, who included Philip Chiyangwa, Josaya Hungwe and Saviour Kasukuwere, among others, rode in Mercedes-Benzes, Jeeps, Toyota Prados and Jaguars in a show of wealth and power into an area where the majority can ill afford two meals a day.

Energy Mutodi, not to be outdone, arrived in his own left-hand drive Land Criuser, while the young legislator Mayor Wadyajena was chauffeur-driven in a sleek black Jaguar, as the party showed its support for the second power couple in Zanu PF after President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace.

Poor party supporters, who could not even afford to fund their own transport to the venue, were bussed in in their hordes in haulage trucks and school buses, which came from government schools in Kwekwe.

A rural setting, which even at its peak on Christmas Day hardly attracts more than 50 merrymakers, was turned into a hive of activity for just six hours.

More than 200 top-of-the-range vehicles lined up and covered an entire football pitch, buses also took their fair share of space, while nearly 10 000 supporters occupied more than six huge tents.

In the face of a boycott of the elections by the main opposition MDC-T, it is a foregone conclusion that Auxilia will now join her husband in Parliament as MP for the constituency.

Political commissar Kasukuwere summed it all up when he told supporters that he had no doubt that their candidate would win, what he wanted was the margins.

“The question is not whether Mai Mnangagwa is going to win the election, but the margins which she is going to win the polls by,” he said.

“That is the reason the party has come, to support our candidate and introduce her to you.”

Mnangagwa, referred to as Ngwena (Crocodile), aptly wearing a Lacoste belt which has the symbol of a crocodile, arrived at the venue with a six-car motorcade and announced that his party would closely analyse the voting patterns by polling station and would ensure that those who choose not to vote for Zanu PF are fenced out.

“Everyone will vote at their polling station and we know who will vote at which polling station. Voting has a patten, it’s not like death which just comes, but those who choose to vote for those who are not known and have no history we will build a fence to keep them out,” he said.

He added that headmen should lead their people to the polling stations, while party chairmen at that level follow behind and watch that all their people vote.

A few white farmers, who lost some of their land came to support the launch, donating fuel which was used on the school buses and haulage trucks, mineral water for the top delegates mainly government ministers, politburo members and parliamentarians.

Kasukuwere had one more request for the white farmers, he asked them to support Auxilia even by branding their products with her image.

“Dendairy, if it is possible you can brand your milk products with the name of our candidate for the duration of the campaign so that everyone gets the message,” he said.

It is at this rally that Mnangagwa promised that Mugabe’s government was ready to revive Ziscosteel (now New Zimsteel), collapse a number of diamond companies to ensure that they remain with only two strong entities and plug loopholes, which have seen precious minerals being sold on the black market.

Wadyajena, who doubles as the provincial youth secretary, and his chairman Edmore Samambwa, marshalled the youths, most of them who appeared drunk, to mobilise supporters.

Buses that ferried supporters
Buses that ferried supporters

“We are here to give support to our candidate, the party and our Midlands godfather and vice-president Mnangagwa, who was appointed to serve Zimbabwe by our loving president,” he said on the sidelines.

The Bob Swift rally was by far the biggest-ever in a rural area in the Midlands, which was addressed by someone who is not Mugabe.

Mnangagwa could hardly complete a sentence without praising Mugabe and Grace.

He saved a few choice words for axed secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa.

Just a few metres from the rally venue and all its opulence, most crops at nearby fields were suffering from moisture stress.

The prospect of a drought is real and after singing their voices hoarse at the rally, locals might be back soon at the venue, this time queueing for food aid.

Auxilia, who appeared humble, simply begged the voters to vote for her, saying she was humbled that they had chosen her to replace her husband.

Mnangagwa said his wife was seeking election in her own capacity and not as his wife, but it was clear the high-level dignitaries came for the vice-president in a show of loyalty.