By Tatenda Chitagu

MASVINGO- President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday shied away from making any more fake promises to the electorate in Masvingo.

Speaking at a campaign rally organised by several affiliates of the ruling ZANU PF outside Mucheke stadium, he instead made a dry speech that stuck to what his government had already done, rather than what the octogenarian intends to do if he gets five more years at the State House.

This lack of grandstanding followed a series of damning fact checks by fact checking platform, ZimTracker which exposed a cocktail of lies he made at the same venue while campaigning in 2018.

Then, an exuberant Mnangagwa urged people to elect him President, promising his government would make the lives of people in Masvingo better.

Among other things, he promised to;

*Revive the country’s meat processor, the Cold Storage Company (CSC)’s Masvingo branch which at its peak was the biggest employer in the province with 6 000 workers, claiming it would be operational by July 31, a day after the polls.

*Provide irrigation infrastructure for 18 000 Internally Displaced Persons in Chingwizi, Mwenezi who were moved from Chivi to pave way for construction of Tugwi Mukosi dam.

*Revive asbestos mining company, Shabanie Mashaba mines soon after the 2018 polls.

Fake Promises

Four years after Mnangagwa won the election by a small margin against youthful main opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, ZimTracker delved deep into his campaign promises and discovered his claims about CSC, Chingwizi and other matters were all lies. The fact checks were widely circulated, and the President fast became a poster boy of making fake promises in Masvingo.

Grounded… This truck used to deliver choice meat cuts from the CSC to butcheries (Pic from ZimTracker file)

On Friday, Mnangagwa had the enviable task of facing the audience at Mucheke, who knew he had not fulfilled his promises.

Interviews carried by ZimTracker showed that they expected him to speak about CSC, Tugwi Mukosi and Chingwizi. Ironically the moribund CSC, where not a single job related to meat processing has been created in almost five years Mnangagwa has been President, is located about a kilometer away from the venue.

Horns of yesteryear cattle slaughtered at the CSC serve as a reminder of CSC’s great past (ZimTracker File Pic)

ZimTracker fact checkers noted Mnangagwa avoided uttering a single word about these hot button topics and also did not make any new promises.

What he also ducked:

Mnangagwa did not speak about salaries for civil servants which have been eroded by hyperinflation due to the weakening of the local currency against the United States dollar, but instead threatened retailers hiking prices.

He also did not speak about climate change as well as the country’s transition plan from fossil fuels to green energy, as the world adopts clean energy.

Many who spoke to ZimTracker expected that the President would also touch on the power shortages that had crippled business as most parts of the country have been experiencing close to 18 hours of load shedding for months before he came.

Mnangagwa also ducked the controversial lithium Chinese owned mine, Bikita Minerals-which he commissioned last year-which is in the eye of a smuggling storm and had its operations temporarily closed due to alleged unfair labour practices, tax evasion and the flouting of immigration laws by some Chinese employees.

He said government has an irrigation project for all dams in every province but did not avail timelines of what his government intends to do about irrigation infrastructure at Tugwi Mukosi dam where the bulk of the water there is being underutilised.

“We are constructing dams in every single province promoting irrigation at all dams. Here in Masvingo you have dams without irrigation,” was all he said, avoiding Tugwi Mukosi.

On sugarcane and cotton farmers who are yet to be paid, Mnangagwa simply said ‘I have heard about it’ without elaborating.

Major highlights of his speech:

Part of the crowd that gathered at the Mucheke rally (Pic by Tatenda Chitagu/ZimTracker)

Mnangagwa threatened to withdraw trading licences for businesses he accused of hiking prices, forward pricing of goods as well as being involved in speculative purposes.

“We are aware of those bent on causing havoc in our country by attacking our currency, they will never succeed.

“This wanton increase of prices and manipulation of the foreign exchange rate must stop. This morning when I met the (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe) Governor (Dr John Mangudya) and the Minister of Finance (Professor Mthuli Ncube),

“I gave them instructions that we shall not tolerate this nonsense. Those who are going to be found wanting and commit crimes against measures we have put in place, we shall have their trading licences withdrawn, because these people doing these heinous acts to cause suffering on our people, I now warn them , warn them three times,” said the President.

He attacked the opposition for allegedly inviting sanctions that he said are hurting the nation and ordinary Zimbabweans.

Mnangagwa said his party had created employment for the youths, established industrial and innovation hubs to inculcate an employer mindset among youths, issued mining claims, built dams, dolled out scholarships to the academically gifted but disadvantaged students and other life changing projects.

He said ZANU PF is the only party with a rich history of liberating this country as well as enjoying democracy and rights enjoyment. He said former oppressors “cannot teach us democracy as we fought for our independence”.

The President said ZANU PF had the interests of people at heart, saying those who want to assist Zimbabwe should do so ‘on our own terms based on our own priorities’.

He urged the youths to refrain from drug abuse.