Zimpapers Logo

Lloyd Gumbo Herald Reporter
ZANU-PF has fulfilled a number of the goals of the majority of people since independence and its re-election tomorrow will guarantee and consolidate these achievements. This is contained in the party’s manifesto dubbed “Taking back the Economy: Indigenise, Empower, Develop and Create Employment.”

The party also came up with intervention mechanisms to bust the illegal economic sanctions imposed on the country by Western countries at the behest of the MDC formations. One of the goals cited is that Zanu-PF brought freedom and independence to ensure people’s goals are achieved.

“It is therefore understandable that Zimbabweans trust Zanu-PF as the party of liberation commitment to ensuring that Zimbabwe shall forever be free,” reads the manifesto. “One clear current achievement of Zanu-PF, whose benefits have been self-evident and widespread, with far reaching positive implications over the next five years is the indigenisation of land and the empowerment of newly resettled farmers.

As part of this indigenisation programme, Zanu-PF has through the Government also acquired various peri-urban farms where many low and middle income home seekers have been resettled under informal tenure that is set to be formalised.”

The development, the party said, gave hope to homeless urban dwellers on the housing waiting list whose backlog stands at 1,25 million.
Zanu-PF said the success of the programme was affected by corrupt urban councils run by the MDC-T.

“After the elections, Zanu-PF will prioritise offering of tenure to urban beneficiaries of the historic land reform programme to foster home ownership to the people as an achievement of indigenised land. This will be accompanied by the rehabilitation of Zimbabwe’s physical and social infrastructure through funding to be unlocked from indigenisation and empowerment assets,” the manifesto reads.

The revolutionary party adds that to achieve the goal, urban voters especially those on the housing waiting list must vote for Zanu-PF to ensure that they benefit from the exercise. As a result of the land reform exercise, 276 620 indigenous households took full ownership of 12 117 000ha representing 31 percent of prime agricultural land previously controlled by some 3 500 white minority colonial settlers.

Zanu-PF adds that prior to the indigenisation of land, tobacco was exclusively grown by some 1 547 white settler-colonial farmers. But after indigenisation, a combination of over 60 000 communal farmers, A1 new farmers, new A2 farmers and small scale commercial farmers produced about 144,5 million kilogrammes of tobacco generating US$527 million.

The other development by Zanu-PF has been to successfully defend the country’s sovereignty in the face of determined and well documented machinations of the West.