'There is hunger, poverty of leadership in MDC-T,' says Mugabe

15:21
Mugabe ends address by saying: "Peace begins with me, peace begins with you and peace begins with all of us."

15:18
Mugabe: "They want tarnish the name of Zanu-PF. Find these people and beaten them up. We can't allow them to tarnish our name."

15:17
Mugabe says there are people committing crime saying they are from Zanu-PF. "Punish them, kick them beat them then call police later," he says.

15:16
Mugabe: "There is nothing in MDC. There is hunger, poverty of leadership and programmes."

15:16
Mugabe the country is finally going towards election date. He urges the party to register youths, particularly those turning 18. He challenges the youth league to mobilise students at universities and colleges. "Approach them, he says.

"There are two groups one pro-Zanu-pf and others following the MDC. But opposition has no programmes. What you get from them is regime change, to remove Mugabe. Mugabe is the obstruction for them. If you remove Mugabe zero. There are a zero party. I don't want to say there shouldn't be an opposition but people should look at what programmes there are offering for the nation."

15:07
Mugabe says due to his education policies since independence, Zimbabwe remains one of the few countries in Africa with the highest literacy rate

15:06
Mugabe says some diasporans come back to Zimbabwe penniless and then demand land. "But they have been away for song long. We should be wary of these people," he says.

15:02
Mugabe pleads with Zimbabweans in the diaspora to come back home and utilise their skills back home

15:01
Mugabe: We would want black to be employers so mining engineers can team up and form their own companies

14:56
Mugabe: Every province has minerals, gold is in every province and we hope our mines ministry is working hard so that we can explore the minerals underneath the ground and our youth can be employed

14:54
Mugabe: We can now produce food for other nations and we can now restore our status as the bread basket of Africa as the the soils are wet and we can have enough evaporation to get enough rains next season

14:50
Mugabe: "We are not going to import maize anymore for the next year or so."

14:49
Mugabe: "We are happy that command Agriculture has produced massive tons of maize."

14:49
Mugabe lauds Command Agriculture. He says it's a sign of unity in Zanu-PF

14:46
Mugabe: Zanu-PF is in government and is very clear in principles and very clear in how to achieve those principles

14:46
Mugabe: "The youth have no factions, they have no desire at the moment to be successors when the president is still alive, the youths are saying No, the women are saying No, the majority is saying No, who then is saying Yes?"

14:44
Mugabe says he has remained principle after the death of other revolutionaries that liberated Zimbabwe from colonial Britain

14:43
Mugabe: I miss Muzenda, Joshua Nkomo, John Nkomo and Chitepo. We were united

14:42
Mugabe: "What would I be without followers? What would I say when the followers do not have faith in me?"

14:41
Mugabe to the youths: "You are the leaders of tomorrow and I want to thank you for recognising that and even as you are young, we want to thank you for teaching us to be united because you have managed to raise crowds of unity. This is a phenomenon that the elders must grasp."

14:36
Mugabe: "The country must remain ourselves together. We must defend our country. Province by province we must remain united.

"One fundamental principle is that we are Zimbabweans.

Tell them we are Zimbabwean not individuals."

14:34
Mugabe: What are our youths doing? They are doing what Joshua Nkomo said - remain united and defend our land

14:34
Mugabe: "The enemy be careful, he might once again rob us of the control of our land"

14:33
Mugabe: If we are to prosper as a nation, unity and more unity is required

14:33
Mugabe: We fought together to bring Zimbabwe. We should continue to defend Zimbabwe together. So the enemy has to be careful but we should be careful of the enemy

14:32
Mugabe: So we must defend those objectives we have as Zimbabwe

14:32
Mugabe: We are owners and not slaves or employees or servants of white men but owners of Zimbabwe . It must be land in total, land to produce our wealth food and build our homes

14:31
Mugabe: Loosing our land is loosing our wealth. Wealth comes from our land

14:31
Mugabe speaks of the late vice president Joshua Nkomo. He says that he told him two things, 1. that people must remain united and 2. that don't let land go to foreigners. "Those two things were crucial and remain so. We must remain united because this is Zimbabwe it is our land."

14:30
Mugabe says Zanu-PF is united. 'I can't be president if we are not united,' he says.

14:28
"No more the land of foreigners as it was. So we must defend and rule ourselves", says Mugabe

14:27
At one time we lost our land, losing our land means losing our wealth. We must not be slaves in our country, we must not be slaves or employees of the whites, says Mugabe

14:26
"The people must remain united in honour of Umdhala Wethu Joshua Nkomo and don't let our land go to the wrong people," says Mugabe

14:24
Mugabe: "My heart is overwhelmed by your confidence in me," says Mugabe "and I am also overwhelmed by that support, that belief, in other words your president, in other words I jump about with my legs and if I can't do it with my legs I will do it wit my heart"

14:20
The success of the youth interfaces that we are holding are amazing, say Mugabe

14:20
Mugabe thanks the youths for the massive support.

He thanks them for for convening in Harare during the one million men march in solidarity with him

14:16
Mugabe: "We have just opened an information centre here and we want to open such centers in all communities of our country."

14:11
Salutations follow

14:11
Mugabe sloganeering, as he greets supporters

14:11
Mugabe takes to the podium

14:07
Popular song "Mudhara Achauya" is being played as Mugabe takes to the podium

President Mugabe walking to podium, about to speak. Youth league members dance to 'mdhara achauya' #Zimbabwe

— harumutasa/aljazeera (@harumutasa) July 21, 2017

14:06
Grace concludes her address

14:06
Grace Mugabe denounces a video featuring some youths advocating for violence against people who do not support her.

She calls for peace in the country and urges police to arrest perpetrators of violence

14:05
Grace: "We want to fulfill the electoral promises that we made ahead of the previous elections."

14:04
Grace: "MDC wants to take Binga as their playground and from now on we are not going to allow them here in Matabeleland North as we approach the elections."

14:04
Grace: We are going to establish factories to process what we are going to produce. That's what we agreed with our private partners in the joint venture agreement

14:03
Grace says Zanu-PF will sweep clean in Matabeleland North come 2018 elections

14:03
Murmurs again from the crown, as people say the First lady is talking of Binga yet Lupane needs development

14:02
Grace says the Binga project will produce maize seed.

The project is meant to transform the lives of people of Binga, adding it's a big project to cover more than 16 000 hectares

Lupane .... people being creative with their dance moves, waiting for President Mugabe to arrive #Zimbabwe pic.twitter.com/JhqNCooWSO

— harumutasa/aljazeera (@harumutasa) July 21, 2017

14:01
There are murmurs from the crowd with some complaining that the speeches are only in Shona and not translated

14:00
We are going to build schools and clinics in Binga, says Grace

14:00
Grace says that Binga people have been marginalised for a long time.

She says 250 hectares of land were opened in Binga for maize production.

"The villagers are now producing seed maize and we anticipate that most of the seed maize will be grown there hence creating employment and doing away with the importation of seed," Grace says.

13:56
Grace Mugabe refers to the Zanu-PF provincial chairperson with a wrong name and apologises

Grace Mugabe says Zanu PF will not let opposition party MDC win Matabeleland North in 2018 elections #Zimbabwe

— harumutasa/aljazeera (@harumutasa) July 21, 2017

13:56
Grace says the youth league is the vanguard of Zanu-PF

13:55
Grace, who is the secretary for the Zanu-PF women's leagues says urged youths to support women

13:50
First Lady Grace Mugabe takes to the podium as she struggles to greet villagers in their local Ndebele language.

13:48
Chipanga thanks Mugabe for setting up Export Processing Zones. He says come rain come sunshine, Zanu-PF youths will solidly stand in support of Mugabe

Provincial Youth chair Mbongeni Dube says #Mugabe is the sole candidate for #ZanuPf #LupaneRally pic.twitter.com/BxzAApNsVo

— Harare Post (@harare_post) July 21, 2017

13:45
Chipanga says government must build houses for senior government officials of the region in Matabeleland North Province so that the leaders are close to the people the serve

13:43
Kudzai Chipanga says Zanu PF will soon embark on a youth registration exercise countrywide to see how many youths the party has

13:43
Chipanga appeals to youths to be disciplined and urges them to shun abuse of social media.

He says youths should stop joining social groups which go about tarnishing the image of the party

13:41
Zanu PF youths are wearing T-shirts written Register to Vote 2018

Provincial Youth chair Mbongeni Dube says #Mugabe is the sole candidate for #ZanuPf #LupaneRally pic.twitter.com/BxzAApNsVo

— Harare Post (@harare_post) July 21, 2017

13:40
Chipanga thanks Mugabe and his wife Grace for the interface rallies

13:39
He laments that youths from Matabeleland North in Lupane commute everyday to work in Bulawayo about 170km away

13:39
Zanu-PF youth secretary Kudzai Chipanga asks Mugabe to create jobs for jobless youths in Matabeleland North

Lupane .... people being creative with their dance moves, waiting for President Mugabe to arrive #Zimbabwe pic.twitter.com/JhqNCooWSO

— harumutasa/aljazeera (@harumutasa) July 21, 2017

13:21
The national anthem is being sung. Every asked to stand up

13:21
President Mugabe arrives. He is accompanied by his wife Grace.

13:21
The venue is full-packed

13:21
People have been bused in buses emblazoned with Zanu-PF colours

13:21
There is dancing and toying by Zanu-PF supporters as they await Mugabe's arrival to the venue

13:21
It's hot in Lupane but this has not stopped hundreds of people from attending.

A lot of people are trickling into stadium while Mugabe has gone into a briefing with his two VPS and other provincial leaders at Lupane University

13:21
President Mugabe has jetted into Lupane for his interactive meeting with youth. He is set to officially open the Lupane Information Centre at Lupane Post Office, a first of its kind in the provincial capital of Mat North

Lupane - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is set to resume his nationwide rallies in Lupane, Matabeleland north on Friday amid speculation the gatherings are a prelude before he calls a snap election during the first quarter of 2018.

Constitutionally, the country is due for polls between July and August 2018, but analysts claim Mugabe wants to catch the opposition unawares. The opposition is currently squabbling over who will lead a proposed grand coalition.

At least 100 000 Zanu-PF supporters are expected to attend what has been dubbed as the "Presidential Interface" with youths.The rally will be held at Somhlongo stadium.