THE Masvingo ZANU PF provincial leadership has moved into campaign gear as it starts
mobilising towards the ruling party’s intended five million votes for its presidential candidate in
this year’s general elections.
The campaign comes at a time when the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) indicated that
the elections are likely to be held next July or August.
Speaking at the end of a Provincial Co-ordinating Committee (PCC) meeting in Masvingo on
Sunday, Rabson Mavhenyengwa, the provincial chairperson, said the meeting concentrated on
plans to mobilise the province’s quota of 800 000 towards the five million votes for the President
and the party by conscientising the party’s lower structures and the ordinary villagers while
taking stock of the membership on its registers.
“We are now in campaign mood and already started mobilising votes for President Mnangagwa
and the party for five million votes. So what we were doing in the meeting, being our first PCC
meeting of the year, was to give each other tasks to do in order to achieve our quota,” he said.
“We were also talking of arranging campaign events around the district during which we will
host the top leadership, including the President, to help in mobilising people to vote for ZANU
PF. We were also talking about the need for unity after the in-house provincial elections during
which cadres contested each other. We need to go out there and unite the people to vote for the
party overwhelmingly.”
Mavhenyengwa, who is Zaka North parliamentarian, said his leadership was confident of giving
President Mnangagwa a resounding victory by winning all the 26 constituencies on offer in the
province.
The provincial chairperson, however, warned that the current campaign programme was only
meant to mobilise votes for the President and the party and not yet open for candidates interested
in local council and parliamentary primary elections.
Candidates wishing to contest in local government and parliamentary primaries have to wait for a
directive from the party’s headquarters.
Earlier in his address, Mavhenyengwa said during campaign events planned for the districts, the
provincial leadership would be keen to see people in the respective districts take centre stage
instead of bussing supporters from elsewhere.
“When we have a programme in a particular district, let’s allow those resident in those areas to
be at the forefront. That way, we will be able to tell our strength in that particular district. So, if
we are Mwenezi, there is no need to bus people from 300km away instead of getting people from
Mwenezi. That way, we are able to make an informed assessment of our strength and how far we
are with our contribution towards the five million votes for the President. ”