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President Mugabe and First Lady Amai Dr Grace Mugabe are welcomed by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko at Heroes Day commemorations in Harare yesterday.— (Picture by Tawanda Mudimu)

Felex Share Senior Reporter
President Mugabe yesterday called for unity and peace amongZimbabweans saying violent protests being engineered by opposition parties and shadowy groups to subvert Government would come to naught.

Addressing thousands of people gathered at the National Heroes’ Acre to celebrate Heroes’ Day, President Mugabe said a constitutionally-elected Government could only be removed through democratic elections not Arab spring type of protests.

He said while it was everyone’s constitutional right to hold demonstrations, they should be done in a peaceful manner.

“Let us remain united in defence of our sovereignty, in defence of what our national heroes fought for,” President Mugabe said.

“We should remain united, remain cognisant of the fact that without unity we cannot make much progress. There will be divisions, quarrelling, fighting, violence and that is why things like protests don’t pay because usually they end up being violent protests. Zvinobatsirei kuti muende mumigwagwa mune chinangwa chekuti muratidze kuti munogona kupotsera matombo, munogona kurova mapurisa nematombo? Tinodarirei? We don’t want that!”

He added: “If it is a police sanctioned demonstration, let it be done in a peaceful manner. If it is a political party seeking relevance and recognition, it is allowed but for them to stone people and property, it is not allowed. We don’t want that violence. Joining hands to foment chaos to effect regime change as is being done in some Arab countries will never be tolerated. Ko vote yaenda kupi yakaisvonaka? Hamuchada vote? Ko, ndoodemocracyka! Makanganwa nhasi democracy? Ndakanzwa vaTsvangirai vachiti ngatibatanei tiite coalition tigoita maprotests ndiyo nzira chete yatingaputse nayo hurumende. Kureva kuti matadza pamaelections kukurira hurumende, kukurira Zanu-PF.”

President Mugabe said Zanu-PF was a people-oriented party that would never be pushed out of power through violent protests.

“It is true Zanu-PF is the people’s party,” he said.

“It is a party with strong roots, of which the roots are those lying here and the blood that was shed during the war. Makuva haasi ekutamba nawo awa. Ane nyaya, ane hurukuro yakakosha nenhoroondo yekutambudzika, yekurwira vazhinji. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again and these are the words being said by those lying here.”

President Mugabe commended the country’s security sectors for maintaining law and order.

“When all is said and done, what is important is in our circumstances we have peace, law and order and we praise our security forces for that,” he said.

“We praise them for the calm there has been, the peace there has been but we praise them also for fulfilling international obligations by subscribing members to both regional and international peace support operations. Thus, under the auspices of sadc, African Union and United Nations our security forces continue to raise the Zimbabwean flag high.”

President Mugabe said to consolidate the sacrifices made by the country’s freedom fighters, Government was implementing various strategies to boost economic performance and empower people.

He said it was unfortunate that some misguided people were blaming Government for sanctions and weather-induced challenges such as El Nino.

“Government is not responsible for the rains but it tries by all means to ensure no one starves,” he said.

“No matter which political party you support, you should get food. If the food is there, it is your right to get it, But if it is not enough, don’t say it is being given to Zanu-PF members only simply because you belong to MDC, People First or People Second. I assure you that no Zimbabwean will starve.”

President Mugabe said Government’s Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 was there to stay as it was meant to protect and resuscitate the local industry.

He said the measures, which would be reviewed from time to time, would see the manufacturing sector’s capacity utilisation remaining stable.

“Already some notable investments have been made in edible oils, milk powder, drinks and beverages and clothing and footwear,” the President said.

“Our people have been producing be it tomatoes but their products were rotting because people were importing cheap products from South Africa. Goods are cheap there because the Rand has been losing value against the United States dollar. That being the case does it mean that our farmers should stop farming?”

President Mugabe said reforms being implemented in the mining sector were targeted at plugging leakages of the country’s mineral resources.

He said the health sector continued to receive attention from Government and development partners with 35 clinics being completed this year.

“The education sector on the other hand is moving forward with the implementation of the new curriculum which will come into effect in January 2017,” he said.

“The new curriculum responds to the values, knowledge and skills needs of learners and the socio-economic requirements of the nation. In higher education, it is the intention of Government that every province in Zimbabwean should have a state university, a polytechnic and a teacher’s college.”

President Mugabe said plans were at an advanced stage to establish a Women’s Microfinance Bank to enable women in mining, trade, agriculture, health and tourism to actively participate in economic activities.

He said Government valued the contributions of civil servants and would implement programmes to improve their welfare and conditions of service.

President Mugabe said measures to avoid delays in the payment of civil servants’ salaries were being developed.