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Cde Chinamasa

Everything is now set for the July 31 harmonised elections after Government announced it had secured money to cover the logistical arrangements and processes for the elections. The news has been greeted with loud cheers because Government has done exactly what the majority of people have always wanted it to do — to respect the national interest — by securing the funds from domestic resources instead of having the elections funded by foreigners, as the MDC-T, through the Minister of Finance Tendai Biti, was pushing for.

We have the resources, both natural and man-made in this country and there is no reason why we would turn to foreigners to fund our electoral processes except to invite interference.

There is no way we can fail to hold elections because of lack funds, given the mineral wealth we have in this country.
Inviting foreigners to pour money in our elections is simply asking them to interfere with our elections.

It is for this reason we welcome the announcement by Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa that Government had always been committed to having the elections funded through domestic means, which by all imagination, makes a lot of sense, given that what is at stake in this election is our sovereignty.

It has been proven time and again that donor support is not free but comes with a lot of conditions and the only way a sovereign nation can avoid external interference is to stay clear of donor dependency and use own resources to move the country forward.

It is a fact that MDC-T is so obsessed with foreign donors to the extent of failing to see the great potential this country possesses in standing on its own.

It is very unfortunate the MDC-T fails to realise it has two legs to stand on without leaning on anyone. This is what Zanu-PF long realised and has long advocated.

There are so many things we can do on our own and through the indigenisation policy; we have been able to unlock value in most companies through the 51 percent local ownership and so for one to doubt our capacity to fund our elections without foreign support is sheer madness.

The environment preceding the July 31 harmonised elections has been very peaceful, with isolated cases of violence being reported, making the environment very conducive for holding the elections and with money having been mobilised, it is now all systems go.

We commend Government for standing firm against pressure from other partners to seek election funding from foreigners. It has shown that elections can still go on without donor funding and that when a nation puts its mind to what it intends to achieve, nothing can stop it.

What will those who yesterday were convinced the elections would not be conducted because of lack of funds from domestic sources say today, now that US$$96 million has been disbursed for voter education, registration and Nomination Court expenses?

It has been said before and we will say it again that Zimbabwe has unlimited potential to be master of its own destiny and will not entertain external interference in its processes, all for donor funding.

This we have shown, and on our own, we can move mountains.
Let the elections begin.