Crowds scrambling for freebies at Zanu PF rallies a sign of govt failure — Madhuku  – NewZimbabwe.com

By James Muonwa l Mashonaland West Correspondent

NATIONAL Constitutional Assembly (NCA) president, Lovemore Madhuku says chaotic scenes of commandeered crowds scrambling for free groceries at the ruling party, Zanu PF, rallies are a sign of the government’s failure.

Speaking during a meeting held in Chinhoyi, Madhuku said Zimbabweans were suffering at the hands of the ruling elite, which must be booted out come August 23 harmonised elections.

“Citizens should seek a government that cherishes prosperity. Remember there is Madhuku who will be on the ballot paper on 23 August vying for president. There would be others but don’t vote for them.

“If this country was ruled effectively, people would have adequate food stocks in their households, they shouldn’t go to rallies to get basic commodities,” he said.

The NCA leader said Zanu PF political rallies have been reduced to platforms to further expose President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his henchmen.

“If people had cooking oil, rice and mealie-meal, they would not go to a rally to get these things, but go and contribute to nation building through exchanging views and ideas, and listen to what the leadership is promising.

“Attending rallies in order to get these things is evidence of failure because the masses are suffering,” said the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) law professor.

He noted bussing helpless citizens to Zanu PF events was evidence of government failure as the masses could not afford transport fares.

“People should come voluntarily (to rallies) using their own money because they would be in a position to afford. Every Zanu PF rally is evidence of failure.”

Madhuku urged the electorate to vote NCA in upcoming polls and remove

Mnangagwa’s regime, which has not succeeded in improving Zimbabwe’s economic situation.

He also reiterated the need to rejig the 2013 national Constitution, which he said was a compromise document agreed between late former president Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the then opposition front-man.

Madhuku has contested previous presidential polls, the last being in 2018 against his erstwhile benefactor Mnangagwa, who has gifted him a vehicle, among other trinkets, for his role in the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) platform.

POLAD is a grouping of 2018 presidential aspirants established at the behest of Mnangagwa couched as a political negotiating caucus.

The steep nomination fees set by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for presidential contestants pegged at US$1 000 did not deter Madhuku.

Despite his unwavering determination to land the presidency, he fared dismally in past plebiscites, while NCA candidates have failed the scrap even a single local authority or a parliamentary seat.

Madhuku’s participation in elections is largely viewed by detractors as a sideshow to give credence of a supposed democratic society.