Zanu-PF lines up campaign rallies

Zanu-PF has lined up a series of campaign rallies across Masvingo Province to drum up support for candidates who sailed through in the just-ended primary elections.

The development comes as the winning candidates have vowed to win resoundingly in the harmonised polls set for July this year.

The candidates have also promised to make sure President Mnangagwa romps to a landslide victory in the presidential election.

Zanu-PF candidate in Masvingo Urban constituency Taguma Benjamin Mazarire yesterday said he has lined up major rallies to drum up support for the ruling party and President Mnangagwa.

Mazarire expressed optimism that the ruling party will romp to a crushing victory in both House of Assembly and presidential elections.

"We have set a programme to start campaigning for the party and President Mnangagwa in Masvingo Urban and the entire province and, as a Zanu-PF candidate, I do not see any reason why we will not retain this seat (Masvingo Urban) because our history as a development-oriented party is well-known," said Mazarire.

He said under the guidance of the Zanu-PF leadership in Masvingo, he will work closely with youths and churches among other bodies to ensure Zanu-PF prevails in the coming elections.

"Our campaign machinery is already in motion and I will leave no stone unturned in the quest to make sure Zanu-PF and President Mnangagwa win the coming elections.''

Mazarire said he will push for the construction of a modern provincial hospital in Masvingo to cope with a surge in the city's and province's population over the past decade.

"We should not have patients going to Harare or Bulawayo for specialist treatment. Our council gave us land long back and I will lobby Government to make sure a new state-of-the-art provincial hospital is constructed to improve health delivery in the city and Masvingo at large.

"I will also push for the revival of industries in Masvingo to create employment for our youths and I am happy efforts are already underway to re-open the defunct Cold Storage Company, which used to be the biggest employer in the city.

Zanu-PF parliamentary candidate in Chivi South Killer Zivhu said a series of rallies and other activities were in the pipeline to canvass support for the party and its presidential candidate Mnangagwa.

"My main objective is for Chivi South to be one of the constituencies with a very high number of votes for President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF in the coming election and campaigning is already in full swing because we want an emphatic victory achieved through preaching the Zanu-PF gospel and addressing challenges faced by communities," said Dr Zivhu.

Provincial chairman Ezra Chadzamira said winning candidates were free to start their campaign, but underscored the need to foster unity among the party members, including those who lost in the primaries.

"The ground has been set for massive campaigns for the party and all winning candidates should engage into a moving gear so that we retain all the 26 House of Assembly seats that we bagged in 2013.

"I also urge all losing candidates to support those who won and in actual fact become campaign managers as a way of promoting unity. We also want peace; campaigns should be held peacefully," said Chadzamira.