'My hair has grown grey because of fighting with MDC' says Chombo

ZANU-PF has urged people in Bulawayo to vote for them and completely wipe out the MDC factions in the forthcoming elections.

Addressing more than 3 000 people at a rally at Stanley Square in the city yesterday, senior party leaders said Zanu-PF was geared for positive results and wanted to see Bulawayo, whose stature has continued to deteriorate since MDC took control, back on its feet.

The Politburo members included, Secretary for Land Reform and Resettlement Ignatius Chombo, Secretary for Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, Deputy Secretary for Women's Affairs, Eunice Sandi-Moyo, Deputy Secretary for Health and Child Welfare, Douglas Mombeshora and Deputy Secretary of Education, Lazarus Dokora.

They took turns to address party supporters, telling them that the time for the party to completely wipe out MDC from politics through an election was now.

"We are here to report back on the challenges you presented to us last time. We are also here to mourn with you the late Vice- President Dr Landa John Nkomo who I took after as a Local Government Minister. His work is indispensable and he left us a legacy of peace.

"His dream was to see a peaceful 2013 harmonised election and wanted Zanu-PF to win resoundingly.  We know that MDC is everywhere but we are geared for the elections. During the last elections in 2008 we did not do well because of MDC but that will not happen again," Chombo said.

He urged party supporters to vote in their numbers and regain the city to move Bulawayo's development forward.

"When you vote, choose Zanu-PF- the people who have your concerns at heart. You might think that being a councilor is nothing but, it is in the council where all the developmental decisions are made. MDC councillors are awarding themselves tenders and spending rate-payers' money. My hair has grown grey because of fighting with MDC on a daily basis.

"As Zanu-PF we are committed to seeing the water situation, housing and your welfare generally improving and that can happen when you vote wisely," said Chombo, who is also Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development.

He castigated the MDC-T-dominated local authority for poor service delivery and corruptly awarding tenders, housing projects and inflating tariffs. Kasukuwere, who is also the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment declared yesterday's rally the start of a journey in the revival of the city.

"This is the beginning of revival of our party and Bulawayo. We do not want MDC in Bulawayo anymore and we want to run it over. You people of Bulawayo should start that fight today. We must stand up and vote Zanu-PF to reclaim our position in the city and you would get everything that you want.  Factories have closed and MDC is always calling for change, what change have they brought besides shortchanging Bulawayo? The journey has started and we will be visiting Bulawayo regularly," said Kasukuwere.

He said people from Bulawayo had the power to develop themselves through the ballot. "You are your own liberators and now is the time for you not to send crazy people to City Hall because these people have turned urban areas into villages. Your problem is that you do not have leaders.

Bulawayo needs genuine leaders who will not make us feel like we are going to prison when we visit the city and we want to declare this rally as Stanley Square party," he said.
He gave a cheque of $50 000 to youths in Bulawayo for empowerment projects.

Mombeshora, who is also Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare, said service delivery had deteriorated in the country's health institutions particularly in Bulawayo because of the illegal sanctions invited by MDC formations.

"Some MDC people have tried to bulldoze and control Mpilo Central Hospital and we do not want political interference in our health sector. You will remember that when Zanu-PF was alone in power there was nothing like nurses failing to get jobs after training.

"Zanu-PF wants to bring back the National Health Insurance Scheme where special groups like the elderly, minors and the disabled would be treated free of charge. We are struggling to develop our health sector because of sanctions and we can only remove the sanctions by removing MDC," said Mombeshora.

Dokora said Government was incapacitated to develop education infrastructure because of the sanctions and that should be corrected by removing MDC from power.

"Your schools are ill-equipped for science subjects but our budget allocation is not enough. Let us go into schools and participate in elections so that we remove these MDC people whose agenda is just to enrich themselves," said Dokora who is the Education, Sport, Arts and Culture deputy minister.

Provincial chairman, Killian Sibanda said the rally had set the ball rolling for the development of the city.

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