60 000 for Mugabe's homecoming rally

The Zanu-PF aligned Herald reports that ngoing Presidential Youth Interface rallies have confirmed Zanu-PF's immense popularity in addition to strengthening intra-party unity, the ruling party's secretary for Youth Affairs Kudzanayi Chipanga has said.

President Mugabe is halfway through countrywide Youth Interface Rallies organised by the Zanu-PF Youth League and has so far addressed five highly-subscribed rallies in Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Masvingo, Matabeleland North and Mashonaland West provinces, and is set to take the show to Matabeleland South on a date to be announced

And the crowds have been growing incrementally with Mashonaland West, President Mugabe's home province, packing an estimated 60 000 party supporters in Chinhoyi University of Technology Sports Grounds.

The crowds, analysts said, corroborate findings by respected think-tank Afrobarometer, assessments by respected academics Professor Stephen Chan and Julia Gallagher, former MDC-T top honcho Dr Toendepi Shonhe, University of Zimbabwe political scientist professor Eldred Masunungure, trade unionist Raymond Majongwe, to mention just a few, that Zanu-PF is headed for a resounding victory over the out-of-sorts opposition in next year's harmonised elections.

Speaking in the wake of the hugely subscribed interface meeting in Chinhoyi on Saturday, Zanu-PF Mashonaland West provincial youth chairman Tawanda Rupiya put the turnout at between 60 000 and 65 000, with Chipanga saying the crowd had shown that President Mugabe was the only game in town.

"As the youths, we are happy with the attendances we have so far, especially among the young people," he said.

"This has shown that Zanu-PF remains a strong party and very popular among people because of its policies.

"This shows that next year's elections are foregone, as Zanu-PF has shown its strong support among the grassroots. We have benefited a lot from the President's wise counsel, especially on promoting unity and remaining loyal to the party. The President has spoken against factionalism and we stand resolutely behind him on that."

Chipanga said the presence of the First Lady, Dr Amai Grace Mugabe at the rallies had also invigorated the youths.

"As children of the party, we are also grateful that the First Lady is accompanying the President and also offering advice to us as youths," he said. "As the mother of the party and the nation, she is very dear to us and we always find strong support from her in all our activities.

"This has shown that the Zanu-PF Youth League and Women's League are one and cannot be separated. As we say pana Amai ndopane mwana."

Chipanga urged youths in the provinces yet to be visited by the President to come out in their numbers when their time comes.

"Going forward, we urge youths in the remaining provinces to come out in their numbers to come and meet the President," he said. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet with him and no one should be left behind.

"The President has shown that he has the future of the country in his heart by meeting with the youths. He has created a number of policies that benefit young people and we are very grateful that he still gives us space to air our concerns on various issues that affect us as young people."

Chipanga urged people supporting opposition parties to return to Zanu-PF as it was the only party with people-oriented policies.

The next interface rally will be held in Matabeleland South at a date yet to be announced.

Chipanga said they would also be launching voter registration campaigns in the forthcoming rallies to urge youths to register in preparation for next year's harmonised elections.

Rupiya described the massive turnout at the youth interface rally in Chinhoyi as a display of unmatched mobilisation proficiency, meant to give President Mugabe a befitting welcome.

"Our President enjoys massive support that most people came not because we did much in terms of mobilisation, but because they love him," he said. "By our estimation, this is the biggest crowd so far and we are happy as Mashonaland West to have achieved that.

"We worked hard as a united people starting from our Politburo, Central Committee, Ministers and all wings of the party. The crowd was bigger than we anticipated, but in the end it showed how organised we are as a party."

Thousands of people came from all the province's seven districts by road and by rail, and by yesterday all of them had returned safely to their respective homes.

Rupiya said Zanu-PF was the only party which had shown unmatched organisational capacity and opposition parties would be run over in 2018.

He said the biggest message from President Mugabe at the interface rally was that people should take pride in their country and jealously guard its independence.

"The biggest message which as youths in the province and the country should take to heart is that the country is protected by its own people," said Rupiya.

"Youths, as the vanguard of the party, should take this call seriously to guard jealously our wealth and independence."

Opposition parties, said Rupiya, could not match Zanu-PF's attractiveness to voters, as evidenced by the huge turnout in Chinhoyi and considering that no one was coerced to come to the rally.