Protest vote won't help Zimbabwe

THE culture of casting a protest vote during elections will not get Zimbabwe anywhere, as the Government pushes ahead with development fixing roads, building dams and completing a raft of projects started and then left, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said yesterday.

Drumming up support for the party's Mutasa South Constituency National Assembly by-elections candidate Misheck Mugadza, Mutsvangwa urged voters to check for themselves what was being done under President Mnangagwa and use that when deciding how to cast their vote.

The gathering convened after a clean-up programme at Muchena Business Centre in Penhalonga near Mutare.

Minister Mutsvangwa, who is also Zanu-PF Women's League Secretary for Administration, implored citizens to check for themselves the developmental projects being undertaken by President Mnangagwa, so that they vote wisely.

"We have a leader in Mnangagwa, who saw it all since independence and now that he is in control, he is busy redressing some of the things that were wrongly done by the previous administration," said Minister Mutsvangwa. "He is simply making corrections and doing so well. Roads are being refurbished and constructed under the national Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme.

"Dams are being constructed. We have developmental projects that went for decades without being completed and Mnangagwa is coming in to redress all this."

She asked the people if they want President Mnangagwa to visit them personally in their homes for them to appreciate that he is working overtime to implement national development initiatives.

"Let us not let our anger get the better of us. Protest votes will not get us anywhere," said Minister Mutsvangwa.

Turning to war veterans' issues, Minister Mutsvangwa said Zimbabwe saw a War Veterans League after 42 years, and a standalone ministry dedicated to war veterans.

She said all that was happening because President Mnangagwa prioritised the welfare of those that brought political independence to Zimbabwe.

"There are numerous other achievements I can talk about but it only needs an individual to analyse the total developmental package that our President has brought for one to realise that protest vote is counterdevelopmental," she said.

Regarding the clean-up campaign, Zanu-PF Politburo member Douglas Mahiya thanked the President for initiating the National Environment Cleaning Day, which seeks to promote cleanliness.

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness and we all want to be as near as possible to our Lord. I want to urge you all to continue prioritising this initiative every first Friday of every month. This is what the ruling Zanu-PF stands for."

Several senior Zanu-PF and Government officials including Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Nokuthula Matsikenyere, Central Committee member Moses Gutu and Zanu-PF Manicaland deputy chairperson Tawanda Mkodza, attended the function.