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‘We performed beyond expectations’

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
ZANU-PF Manicaland is already geared towards fulfilling President Mnangagwa’s economic agenda of improving the standard of living for the ordinary citizens and achieving a middle income economy by 2030, following the party’s resounding victory in the just ended harmonised elections.

The party won 19 out of 26 parliamentary seats in the province.

Provincial chairman Cde Mike Madiro yesterday said the province was happy with its performance in the elections and was ready to focus on improving the economy.

“On the way forward, we will continue to consolidate our dominance as a ruling party and move forward to focus on the economic agenda as stated by President Mnangagwa to raise the standard of living for the people of Manicaland,” he said.

“By 2030, we must be a middle income economy. So every step we take from now on must be a consolidation of that vision.”

He said the fact that the ruling party had lost four additional constituencies to the opposition party would not detract from the overall victory garnered by Zanu-PF.

The party previously held 23 out of the 26 seats while MDC held only three.

“We get into battle to win and when this happens, we are happy that we have done well. In any case, figures are meaningless if not taken into context. Given that this time the fundamentals were different from the previous elections, we cannot compare the two. Given the circumstances this time, I would say we performed beyond expectations,” he said.

“The new dispensation ushered in a breath of fresh air where the opening up of the democratic space energised the people of Manicaland across the political divide. The results are a reflection of the excitement and enthusiasm ushered in by the new dispensation. We cannot compare this with the old regime performance because the variables are different.”

Cde Madiro said the opening up of democratic space made Zanu-PF a target for every political party in the country.

“Zanu-PF was the party to beat but we performed well regardless,” he said.