by Dorcas Rumano

A sharp increase in the votes garnered by Zanu PF’s Presidential candidate in Harare metropolitan province in this year’s historic elections, has demonstrated that the President-elect, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a people’s choice.

On July 30 2018, President Mnangagwa harvested 202 710 votes in Harare, a figure which is well above the previous Presidential election results gained by the former President, Robert Mugabe.

Previously, former President Mugabe have been failing to harvest votes above 200 000 in the same province.

In 2008 and 2013, the ex- President garnered 61 215 and 172 163 votes in Harare respectively.

The high rise in the number of Presidential votes in Harare province is mainly attributed to President Mnangagwa’s policies which accommodate every citizen, despite one’s race, ethnicity, religion or tribe.

Political analysts who spoke to this publication said, unlike the former President, President Mnangagwa did not select and had since met with a number of different minority groups in Harare during his election campaign trail.

Commenting on the issue, analyst Ishmael Mutimutema said, “President Mnangagwa’s political tone is totally different from the way Mugabe played his politics.

 “President Mnangagwa is open to everyone and this has earned him unprecedented number of votes in Harare when compared to previous elections. His economic policies were welcomed by most business people in this province and these are some of the obvious reasons that made him gain higher votes.”

Since he took over leadership from former President, President Mnangagwa has opened up the political and economic space. His policies are favoured by many Zimbabweans, and as such, he has managed to win the 2018 Presidential race.