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PRESIDENT Mugabe this afternoon addresses thousands of Zanu-PF youths at Mucheke Stadium in the third leg of his nationwide Presidential Youth Interface Rallies. He has been to Mashonaland East and Manicaland Provinces so far. 

The Herald gives you live updates of this important event. Stay logged in and participate in the discussion through the Disqus Comments platform below.

UPDATES: Costa Mano, PHOTOGRAPHERS: Wilson Kakurira, Tawanda Mudimu, PICTURE EDITOR: Joseph Murisi, PROOF-READER: Clearance Munondo, ONLINE EDITOR: Happiness Chikwanha

Zanu-PF supporters started congregating at the open space outside Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo for the third installment of ten President Mugabe Youth Interface Rallies early in the morning. Zim-dancehall tunes are being belted to the pleasure of the largely youthful crowd.

ALSO SEE

• Youth rally livens up sleepy Masvingo

President Mugabe has used the interface rallies to implore the youth to remain resolute regarding the founding values of the party.
The youths have been urged to desist from factional politics by rejecting influence from senior members of the party who wish to use them in their nefarious and selfish agendas.

The theme for the rally is “Honouring Our Icon…Unlocking the Value in Youths”

11:35 – Kinnah AKA Mr Mbare is now on stage and the crowd has gone wild.

We are experiencing network problems but we expect to be reconnected very soon to our crew on the ground. Kindly bear with us. 

We have just been reconnected, and we resume our posts.

13:12 – Soul Jah Love is now on stage and the crowd’s love for “Makuruwani” is evident.

13:26 – It seems the performance was a teaser for what’s coming . Seh Calaz is now dishing out some of his hits to an ecstatic crowd

13:29 -People are now waiting with baited breath for the arrival of President Mugabe.

13:33 – Today’s rally coincides with the launch of a massive voter mobilisation exercise to make sure more youths register to vote for President Mugabe and Zanu PF in next year’s harmonised elections.

13:40 – Vice Presidents Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko have just arrived. Politico members who have also arrived include Cdes Kembo Mohadi, Josiah Hungwe, Saviour Kasukuwere, Shuvai Mahofa and Sydney Sekeremayi.

13:56 –  President Mugabe is now making his way to the stage in the company of Youth League leader Cde Kudzanai Chipanga

13:57 – Youths in Masvingo are expected to take advantage of President Mugabe’s rally to push for their participation in two major projects worth $1,33 billion that were commissioned by the Head of State and Government recently. These projects are the $300 million Tokwe-Mukosi Dam in Chivi and the nearly $1 billion Beitbridge-Harare dualisation project, both expected to create thousands of jobs.

14:05 – Youth political commissar Innocent Hamandishe is the Master of Ceremony. Meanwhile Chief Zimuto’s grandchild is now leading in a traditional praise singing ceremony.

14:06 – Masvingo Youth League chairperson Cde Ndaarombe is now introducing the provincial leadership.

14:14 – Cde Chipanga is now about to introduce the Politburo members here present as he requests Vice President Mphoko to greet the party supporters.

14:16 – Vice President Mnangagwa also stands up to greet the party supporters gathered.

14:18 – The introductions are over and Cde Hamandishe is back at the podium and has asked Cde Ndaarombe to welcome the party leadership to the province as he assures President Mugabe that Masvingo province is indeed united: “We assure you that come 2018 you’ll will win all 26 constituencies (here). As the Youth League we will remain resolute with the message you have been giving us”

14:23 – “THE people you see here are here because they want to hear what you have come to share with us. . . . I pray that God gives you more life.”

Cde Hamandishe jokingly says, “Now we want to hear a song from ‘Zvinhu’ Soul Jah Love . . .”

Cde Hamandishe had a few unsavory words for Soul Jah Love at the last rally in Mutare. It seems they have kissed and made up.

14:36 – The Zimdancehall star, Jah Love is now on stage and he kicks off with “Toda Kuponda Nhamo.”

14:42 – Jah Love completes his set and Cde Chipanga is now making his remarks.

14:43 – Cde Chipanga says Masvingo is one of the most powerful provinces in terms of politics: “It is the province of your friend Cde Muzenda. We want to thank you Masvingo for coming out in your thousands. . . The youths have increased in numbers and we are saying those numbers are meaningless if we don’t vote.”

“We are imploring the youth to vote . . . we are saying youths must ensure that everyone has a national identity card.”

“Our candidate doesn’t change, it’s Angel Gabriel . . . Gushungo there are many projects you are undertaking and one of those is the dualisation of the Beitbridge-Chirundu highway.

14:46 – He also urges President Mugabe to expropriate farms in the province  and give at least five hectares to each youth. He also lauds the creation of Empower Bank.

14:47 – “We thank you for following through on your promise to visit the youths in every province because not all managed to come for the Million Man March,” says Cde Chipanga as he concludes by inviting President Mugabe to the podium to deliver his address.

14:52 – Jah Prayzah’s “Mdara Vachauya” has become the signature tune to introduce President Mugabe.

PRESIDENT MUGABE’S ADDRESS

14:57 – President Mugabe is now on the podium .

 15:00 – He chants the party slogan urging unity in the party.He congratulates Cde Ezra Chadzamira on his recent election as the party’s provincial chairperson. He says First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe traveled to South Africa to see where their children are staying. He apologises for her not being part of the rally today.

Chatunga and Robert Jnr are studying in South Africa
“I want to start by thanking our youths because the spirit you now possess is now scaring a lot of people, that spirit of unity…That’s what we want..our job as the seniors was to show direction to you.

“Zanu_Pf stands for everyone so that they have a place they call home and some form of self-sustenance to show that truly we are an independent country.

President Mugabe says outside Congress,the Central Committee handles issues to do with the party. He acknowledges and thanks the youth league for organizing the One Million Man March.

15:05 – “Today it’s you again and you asked that I be the one who comes to you and I said I will come and I’m still someone able to come . There might be people who show that in the afternoon they are with you and in the night they are not. That is the way of the party but they are not that many.”

15:12 – “Then the seniors who want to corrupt the youths who say we no longer want to be ruled by Harare…they’re finalists and they claim that their tribe is superior. The liberation struggle was won by non tribal means. Every tribe contributed to our victory.

15:15 – “We should follow the ethos set by the likes of Muzenda and Chitepo . . .that is why we say you should listen to what the people want. Here in Masvingo I am troubled by one thing. I don’t know who said sugar is so sweet that people are killing each other over sugar.

15:18 – I chaired two important meetings. The other one was at the State House after Mzembi (Minister Walter Mzembi) said MPs wanted to see me as there were issues that needed discussion. I told him to bring them and they came and I heard their grivances. They said they were having issues with their seniors namely Josiah Hungwe and others . . .

15-22– Before three months had passed after I thought I had solved their differences I was again told that the problems had started again.

Masvingo is very important. We used to say together with Muzenda that “One Party State”…people in the provinces have the right to choose their candidates, don’t impose candidates.
We heard that the commissars were imposing candidates and we spoke to them and they gave their side of the story.

15:23 – President Mugabe asks Cde Chadzamira to come to the podium and acknowledges his election as the leader of the province while shaking the chairman’s hand.

 15:24 – President Mugabe says Masvingo is the province from which the country derives its name.

ON TONGAAT HULETT AND LEASING OF FARMS TO WHITE FORMER FARMERS

“The monuments in Masvingo stand strong no matter the weather, no matter what storm may come. They remain resolute. Even the white people doubted our capabilities of building such structures but they finally saw the light

“This province gave us the spirit to fight the settler regime and you wonder now what has come between us.
Tongaat Hullet grew his sugar but the sugarcane is in our country.

15:25 “He once said that we have grown sugarcane for so long and it’s time to give ownership to some black farmers by giving them plots and I said that is a good programme that falls in line with our empowerment programmes.

15:28 – Now those not growing sugarcane together with Tongaat Hulett were angry but we all can’t farm sugarcane

Those that are now demanding that they takeover some of his farmed land, that cannot happen. It’s better you are given land to farm and not take over what he has grown. This is not unique to the sugarcane farms but some other farms we gave to landless blacks who are letting out their farms to white people.

This is being done by lots of people including our Chiefs and I want to say stop it. Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs, yes we gave you farms but we didn’t say give them to white people. Hearing that our Chiefs’ farms are being cultivated by white people makes us wonder…what kind of relationship do you have?

ON COMMAND AGRICULTURE

15:29 – “Ishe ototi Bass? (A chief to say “Boss to a whiteman?).  It’s better you ask your children to farm for you. Coming to our projects, we put faith in our youth and when we speak of Command Agriculture they are the people we want to see working on it.

“ED said the idea was started by Dr Grace and they discussed it between themselves before coming to us and through Minister Made. So what did Mnangagwa do wrong?

15:31 – “Those are what we call ideas but now others are saying, ‘ah the soldiers are now involved and they have taken over. Look now we have been threatened by General Chiwenga . . .’ I don’t know whether General Chiwenga said that appeared in  the newspapers. It’s a government programme that is under the Ministry of Agriculture.

15:35 – “Zimbabwean companies are being urged to join and help finance this programme . . . The farmer is not asked to pay anything initially but only after harvesting. A very beautiful programme now there is no country where it’s happening. We must not kill it. Command and the Presidential inputs scheme are meant to work side by side. We have had a very successful farming season.

We have now also embarked on the same programme but targeting wheat production.

15:38– “A farmer is a farmer right through . . .There must be something going on at every farm. In Matabeleland we have a cattle-culture and we want to go further and actually be able to sell cattle and not just keep cattle for the sake of keeping them.

15:41 – “Youths should be working for themselves but you say give us land yet some of you have land,” says President Mugabe.

URBAN RESIDENTIAL PLANNING

President Mugabe also says urban residential development needs rethink. Instead of giving stands to everyone the government should build storey buildings.

This is the second time President Mugabe is emphasizing a paradigm shift on urban residential planning after raising the issue in Marondera during the first Presidential Youth Interface Rally.

 ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

15:55 – President Mugabe says Tokwe Mukosi presents opportunities for the youths especially through fish farming. Minister Muchinguri_Kashiri is leading that initiative.

15:59 – President Mugabe urges people to be entrepreneurs : “We don’t want to hear people complaining that we don’t have jobs.”

16:00 – “Be enterprising, be a self-helper and not wait to get help from others . . . being an orphan, young man do you just sit and wait? In olden days youths without facilities some would go around eating at other people’s homes . . .

2018 ELECTIONS AND FACTIONALISM 

16:10 – “We need to prepare properly for the elections

16: 11 – “The BVR system is a technical system. What matters more than it is the man or woman who votes. We don’t want to be lied to by people who won’t vote for us.

16:15 – “We have known what numbers each province will give us. Each province should have a rough estimate regarding the figures they expect from each ward. I must refer to the nuisance parties, the likes of Mujuru’s, Biti’s and the MDC itself. Tsvangirai has conceded defeat so their “bhora musango” ambitions will be in vain. We have to be careful and be aware of the repeat of 2008. The so called factions must be silenced. It doesn’t help anybody to be writing nonsense about someone you think is in your way.

16:23 – Having meetings to denounce so and so, what for? What really is the objective? Is the objective to build or destroy the party? Negative characters in the party ah . . . if they don’t want to be in the party they should leave. We are being quite tolerant! Tolerant. This party is built on the suffering of many. Cde Mbeki says there are only few revolutionary parties left in Africa and Zanu-PF is one of them.

16:25 – Mbeki will be coming to discuss with me how revolutionary parties can regain their founding values. We’re unhappy with what’s happening in South Africa, in Mozambique there are quarrels as well as DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo)  and we don’t think Chama Cha Mapinduzi  will remain as what it was during the time of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. So the roots of the party, this is what we want you to be.

“We have been the roots, us seniors, but will you become the roots? Europe is not accepting anyone who is not their choice. Europe is now hard up in terms of natural resources. Underground resources are now scarce, you get them here and there in the likes of Germany. You don’t talk of gold in Europe. So there no minerals, natural resources, they no longer have wildlife and that’s why they say “don’t kill your wildlife, don’t sell elephant tasks”etc. It’s the fear in them seeing us with all the resources and if they sell all of them where will we get such?

16:30 – “The Americans are better but Europe has nothing. We have all that wealth and that’s what attracts the white people so let’s be preservers of our own species . In the same way I ask our youths never to be quarreling.

“But when differences arise sit down, discuss them, get some agreement, refer them to us for whatever advice we can give. The seniors also please don’t interfere with business of the youth. Let them chat the path of the revolution. We must be an example and they are mature enough to determine their leadership, to choose whom they like for any position in the party and not to seek to impose on them.

ON UNITY IN THE PARTY

16:34 – We don’t want you to be bought off, we know money is sweet.  Those night meetings should end. This habit of using the youths should stop. There is this huge problem that when we get to elections some say we don’t want so and so. Even when you look at Manicaland, the resident minister is not wanted by others so they are split. Even the chairman of the province is not wanted, for what reason? They just don’t want?  It’s the same as here. I hope with the just ended election we have unity here. We hear some say we no longer want Mzembi so who do you want?

CONCLUSION

16:38 – “I want to thank you some have traveled long distances and some even slept here and it shows unity as well as the respect you give to me. I want to assure you that I will never accept division on the basis of tribe.

It’s not the way we built the country with Muzenda. The problem is the same even in the Midlands. You get the likes of Hlongwane saying we are not wanted in the province. We have all been reciting and I want to recite as I finish.

He says Cde John Landa Nkomo left us the saying that “peace begins with you, peace begins with me, peace begins with all of us”
Umdala Wethu (The late Vice President Dr Joshua Nkomo)  left me two things, unity and land

I thank you.”
President Mugabe has finished his address.

16:44– The Youth League is now presenting a gift to the First Family.

16:45 – Cde Mahofa is now giving the Vote of Thanks
She thanks the president for he has done for the people and this concludes our updates as the proceedings have come to an end here.

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