Mnangagwa poised for landslide victory?

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa will win the forthcoming presidential elections by an unassailable landslide, a new opinion poll shows.

The President, whose Government has transformed the country in less than five years through cross-cutting infrastructure development that leaves no one and no place behind, is the most preferred candidate of all presidential hopefuls for another term, according to the latest survey by Pan African Forum Limited.

Zimbabwe is preparing for harmonised elections and initial preparations have started with different political parties warming up for the race.

Ahead of the polls, the Pan African Forum Limited, a forum that constitutes an informal network of African scholars and university student leaders both current and past, said President Mnangagwa will emerge the victor as he commands a 75 percent popularity rating.

Pan African Forum Limited was formed as a lobby group to support the African Union objectives on international aspects and other initiatives, at national, sub-regional, regional and international levels.

In the study that was distributed proportionately to the voters register, 3 110 respondents took part. There was a +/-2 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level.

"(President) . . . Mnangagwa is the most preferred candidate to be the President of Zimbabwe," the survey noted.

President Mnangagwa's closest challenger, Mr Nelson Chamisa, who leads the opposition CCC, lags far much behind with a measly 19 percent, while other parties share the remainder.

The study also shows that 98 percent of the registered voters "are very certain that they will vote in the next general election".

On party choices, the study shows that 69 percent of the respondents support Zanu-PF while 27 percent are loyal to CCC.

"Looking at gender, Zanu-PF has more female supporters as compared to males. Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) has more male supporters as compared to females," the study shows.

Several other surveys have predicted a President Mnangagwa win with the most recent coming from the New York-based global ratings firm Fitch Solutions.

In its latest report titled, "Zimbabwe Country Risk Report", which includes a 10-year economic forecast, the information services company also describes President Mnangagwa as a "reform-minded" leader, whose Government will "focus on efforts to strengthen the economy and attract investment, as well as (in the short term) manage the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic".

There is a good reason why the electorate is ready to vote in huge numbers for President Mnangagwa; his pragmatic policies that have come to fruition in the form of roads and dams that have been constructed in every part of the country, the transformation of the agricultural sector through mechanisation and modernisation — which has turned Zimbabwe into a food secure nation — and industrialisation and increased capacity utilisation.

This is not only in urban areas but also in rural areas that have found huge benefits in new industries opened on their doorsteps, while synergies with tertiary institutions where President Mnangagwa has established industrial parks and innovation hubs, have also been cataclysmic to the rapid transformation.

Zimbabwe is targeting to be an upper-middle-class economy by 2030 and the economic projections point to the realisation of the national vision.

Further, President Mnangagwa has made strides towards job creation, re-engagement, democracy, curbing corruption, conflict resolution, and arresting inflation, among other achievements aimed at fostering socio-economic development and peaceful co-existence to lift millions to prosperity.