Statement from People First UK & Europe

Hon Builders in the UK
Hon War Vets
Hon Nguni
 
I would like to be very thankful of the honour that you the people of Zimbabwe have bestowed upon me to lead this great movement of the People First Project in the role of Interim Convener.  I want to thank the Zimbabwean leadership for accepting the decision made in Birmingham by fellow builders to ensure our unity of purpose in building this great people's project.  I was also overwhelmed by the support that came from builders in other camps and this gave me the reassurance that this project is worth pursing and is bigger than any one individual.  It is my humble submission therefore that I have taken it upon myself to ensure that in my tenure unity must underpin my leadership.  I therefore, urge every builder to come together and turn our swords into trowels and start building rather than engaging in perpetual fighting that does not get us anywhere. I formally request unification with all builders who were part of the previous interim structure led by Hon Josh Chigwagwa and other initiatives that fell under the guidance of Hon war veteran Musavengana and others.  Unification of all People First initiatives are important for the building of one big movement which can be a true reflection of what it means to be putting people first.  Our party is passionately called PEOPLE FIRST but I take full responsibility as one of the leaders that we have allowed our egos to go before the people, something that goes against the latter and spirit of People First.  

Passing on accurate information is also going to be my undertaking as the UK Coodinator and I want it to be known that at the present moment there is no executive that is leading UK People First initiatives.   What exist is the position of a UK Interim Chief Coordinator, Hon Philani Noble, who is leading and providing the communication link between fellow Coordinators in the UK and Harare.  The afro-mentioned Birmingham meeting did not elect an executive committee or an interim committee but, by consensus, agreed to choose me to be the person who will lead the coordination efforts being done in the UK in the meantime towards a substantive structure after official Party launch.   

I and the fellow builders in the UK appreciate the sacrifices of service from our war veterans.  They are the fruit of our country, fought for our freedom, risked their lives to give us freedom and it is only such people that are unselfish with big hearts, who can risk their lives in the manner they did fighting to free Zimbabwe.  Therefore People First can never be People First if this important group of citizens is not incorporated into the movement.  We are forever grateful and we will forever value them and accord them the appreciation they deserve.  Contrary to recent report in newspapers (Zimeye), war veterans have not been ditched and they are a big part of us.   Dr Mujuru is a war veteran with undisputed credentials and in no way can she be accused of ditching the very same group of people she belongs to and she fought the war alongside.  Let me reassure you that our party is a welcoming party and welcomes anyone regardless of their status and from all walks of life, the young and the old, war veterans and non-veterans, students, married families and single families.  

The task ahead is huge and requires coordinated efforts of everyone willing to be part of People First and it is our wish for people to join us in good numbers to make sure that we complete the task of building Zimbabwe.  Work has already began and we have identified and set up 15 regions covering the whole of the UK including the Republic of Ireland and our recruitment efforts are intensifying in these areas.   Furthermore, the social media platforms are playing a huge part in our recruitment efforts and we will continue to use these platforms to meet our objectives.  However as some of these platforms are not secure enough, we will migrate all WhatsApp platforms to regional Telegram platforms which are more secure and once this is done, no People First business will be conducted via WhatsApp platforms here in Europe. This will help to distinguish us from other groups purporting to be representing People First in the UK and Europe.  In addition to this, we are also consolidating all Facebook pages opened for UK and Europe into one platform to be called People First UK and Europe.  

Last but not least, I want to assure you that People First is offering a different kind of political movement whose main objective is to re-BUILD the country and people in Zimbabwe and around the world are warming up to our agenda.  People First strive to bring people's needs and desires for a better Zimbabwe right on top of its agenda.  So please, I am appealing to all Zimbabweans in the UK and in Europe to join us and help BUILD a better Zimbabwe for us and the future generations.  We owe it to the future generations of Zimbabwe and we can only do right by them if we start to BUILD NOW.

Zimbabwe needs you and People First needs you.