Mugabe deploys massive election campaign machinery

A HIGH level Zanu-PF Elections Directorate, composed of senior Politburo members, is seized with the party's 2018 election roadmap which is targeting a robust winning strategy that encompasses voter registration, mobilisation, research and drafting a manifesto, the state media reported on Sunday.

The directorate, led by the party's national secretary for administration Dr Ignatius Chombo, last week began spearheading nationwide meetings which are adopting tactics on conducting educational campaigns on voter registration.

Yesterday, the directorate visited Bindura to educate party members on the new biometric voter registration system that requires all Zimbabwean voters to register anew. The exercise is expected to be conducted in Mashonaland West with the team concluding with Midlands and Matabeleland North provinces during the course of the week. Last week, the team met party officials in Bulawayo, Matabeleland North, Harare, Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Masvingo. The ruling party is targeting over five million votes during the next elections.

Part of the strategy entails ensuring all current members in various structures register to vote, while a massive drive to lure first time youth voters is also being rolled out. The strategy targets, among others, students at higher and tertiary institutions, who constitute a large chunk of new voters.

Dr Chombo told our Harare Bureau that Zanu-PF would soon deploy the full might of its election campaign machinery and offer a robust message that will win the hearts of millions. A politburo committee made up of technocrats has already been established to draft an election campaign manifesto whose message will centre on economic revival, peace and stability, employment creation and development, among other things.

The manifesto will also focus on engineering economic success through home-grown solutions such as the successful Command Agriculture programme. Our Harare Bureau understands that the committee met last Wednesday for a brainstorming session. Sources say the meeting was a resounding success. Mobilisation of the party's supporters is expected to intensify in all provinces in the wake of the success of the Presidential Youth Interface Rallies that saw the party flexing its muscles as a mean mobilising machine.

In an interview last Thursday, Dr Chombo said, "From now until next year's elections, our party is not going to rest as we will work round the clock to put in place strategies that will make us win the elections. In that regard, our focus at the moment is the voter registration exercise. The elections directorate was appointed by the Politburo last week (a fortnight ago) and it is going to carry out a number of programmes until the elections next year.

"What the team is seized with right now is to get our members to register to vote. Team comprises myself as the chair, the national commissar, the women's league, youth league and war veterans' leadership, the party spokesperson will be with us. We are in top gear, we are ready to move and we are moving.

"We are going to go cell by cell to make sure that all our cell members are registered. A cell is an important unit of the party so we want to make sure that everyone in every cell is registered and we move on. We are asking all our people now, all our districts to make sure that they have the relevant documents and to go and register to vote.

"From cell, branch, district, provinces and national level; this is now a major campaign that we are going through, that is why we have visited several provinces already."

Dr Chombo said the education exercise is significant as it would lay the foundation to deliver the poll victory.

"This is why we are going to win. We are going to make sure that all Zanu-PF members are registered to vote, that's our programme and plan."