by Elijah Chihota
President Emmerson Mnangagwa kept his cool as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) went about collating the results which saw him scoring 2 460 463 votes, outpacing his closest rival, Nelson Chamisa of the MDC-Alliance who managed to get 2 147 436 votes.
“Now therefore, I Priscilla Makanyara Chigumba, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in terms of Section 110 (3)(f)(2) do hereby declare that the votes received by Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa of ZANU PF party are more than half the number of votes cast in the Presidential Election, therefore, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa of ZANU PF party is duly declared (the) elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe with effect from August 3, 2018,” said Justice Chigumba announcing the results at the ZEC National Command Centre in the capital.
The victory was also sealed by Zanu PF’s winning of 145 National Assembly seats leaving the MDC Alliance with 63 seats, while one seat went to independent candidate, Temba Mliswa and National Patriotic Front (NPF) got one seat.
For peace-loving Zimbabweans, this spelt elating news and it will give President Mnangagwa time to implement “The People’s Manifesto 2018” which was anchored on unity, fighting corruption, developing, re-engagement and creating jobs. His policies on re-engagement are already paying dividends as the country has already registered US$20 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) commitments over the past eight months.
Instead of focusing on political campaigns, President Mnangagwa chose to address the economic side of things. In the process, he presided over a number of groundbreaking ceremonies among them the Karo Resources Mine in Mashonaland West Province and the Hwange Thermal Power Station expansion projects among others.
President Mnangagwa’s victory gives him a new mandate and a blank canvas to sketch and colour a new Zimbabwe in line with the concerns raised by the various sections of society who he met after his inauguration. Unlike Chamisa, who thought he knew what the people of Zimbabwe needed and ended up promising the people unnecessary luxuries such as bullet trains costing him valuable votes in the process, the President struck the right economic chord which resonated with the majority of the people’s anxieties. This endeared him with the people hence his victory. His first eight months laid a firm foundation for his economic recovery thrust, which is set not only to restore dignity to the people but take the country forward so that it can claim its stake on the continental economic landscape and the global community of nations.
In view of this, Zimbabwe is poised for great things and an exciting future. This calls for every Zimbabwean to do his bit for his nation instead of waiting for the President and his administration to do everything for them.
