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Fungi Kwaramba Political Editor

ZIMBABWE will continue on its journey to greatness only under the visionary leadership of Zanu PF with milestones scored in just five years signposts of greater things to come as the nation relentlessly marches towards Vision 2030, President Mnangagwa said.

In an interview with Zimbabwe Television Network and ZBC, the President said only Zimbabweans can maintain peace and security, themselves key enablers of economic growth and prosperity.

The President, whose administration has rolled out life-changing programmes and projects such as dams, achieved food security, turned universities into industrial parks and innovation hubs and empowered locals to do works once preserved for multilaterals, said the journey towards Zimbabwe’s greatness has just begun and is guaranteed only under a Zanu PF Government.

“We still have a journey ahead of us, this is just the beginning, we will continue to do more, we will continue to build dams to make sure we have enough that even in drought years we will be food secure, we want to produce everything that we require, we are empowering students, just look at what we have done in the past five years, people must vote for development, a party that has the ideas,” he said.

Widely expected to win tomorrow’s elections, the President said he will use the term to implement more people-centred projects for development that leaves no one and no place behind.

“I am going for my second term, it’s my last term, I believe that those in my party Zanu PF, that the building of our land depends on us, the modernisation of our country depends on us, people from outside can only come to support our programmes,” said the President.

The President, whose administration has engagement and re-engagement as a pillar of its foreign policy dismissed the notion that tomorrow’s elections are to fulfil the expectations of foreign governments, stressing that the plebiscite offers Zimbabweans a chance to choose their leadership, in a free and fair election without undue interference.

“Our vote is actually about choosing a party that the people believe has the capacity to provide for their needs. In the past elections were done in order to satisfy Western countries. That is stupid, we have elections in order to have the best party whose programmes address the needs of the people,” he said.

Asked what measures his administration has put in place to guarantee peace in the country and avoid a repeat of 2018 when opposition supporters ran amok after losing the polls, President Mnangagwa said the onus is on Zimbabweans to preserve the prevailing peace.

“Our people should know that the peace is preserved by them and not from outside. You are the guarantors of the peace, it is our responsibility as Zimbabwe. I have said nyika inovakwa nevene vayo, inotongwa nevene vayo, igonamatirwa nevene vayo, you cannot do that when you are fighting.

“I am happy that we are in this election period and the country is peaceful. I am happy that there are young people who are attending our programmes, this shows that our country has a good future. If they come to us who have gone through the mill, talking about peace and harmony we can build this country,” he said.

The relaxed President who had earlier met with observers from SADC, the African Union and the European Union also said ahead of tomorrow’s elections, the ruling party Zanu PF has nothing to hide, hence the invitation of observers from across the globe and also the international media.

The President reiterated his position that the country’s currency is here to stay as no country can be developed using foreign currency.

Breaking imperialistic chains and blinkers, the President Mnangagwa led administration is also charting a new path characterised by inward looking, creating employers through the Heritage 5.0 Education model which places emphasis on science and technology, with innovation hubs and industrial parks having been set up to produce national requirements.

With the economy growing at a rate of 5 percent, the fastest in the region, despite the illegal economic sanctions, President Mnangagwa said his Government will continue to invest in the energy sector to keep pace with the rapid industrialisation and economic expansion.

Already, the President has ended power outages, thanks to the construction of the Hwange Power Station Units 6 and 7 which are now feeding 630 megawatts into the national grid.

For years Zimbabwe was blighted by hunger but under President Mnangagwa the agriculture sector is being climate-proofed with dams being constructed in every part of the country in the spirit of development that leaves no one and no place behind.

Crucially, the President said the country’s development can only come from its people as opposed to the neo-liberal mindset that foreign direct investment is key to any nation’s development.