MATABELELAND-BASED opposition Freedom Alliance (FA) has warned the electorate to watch out for the ruling Zanu PF party’s false electoral promises.
The party said Zanu PF has been in power for the past 43 years, but had destroyed even the infrastructure it inherited from the Ian Smith colonial government.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been on a whirlwind campaign trail bragging about fulfilling several electoral promises, among them the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, the Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8, Beitbridge Border Post and the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport upgrades.
However, FA secretary-general Nhlanhla Moses Ncube yesterday said the electorate should not believe Zanu PF election promises.
“These promises are as old as the fight for independence all the way to 1980, but nothing has happened to this day. The economy is on its knees. Poverty levels are alarming. The so-called new dispensation promised ATMs [automated teller machines] that would ooze cash within 100 days, but five years on, nothing has happened,” Ncube said.
“For example, Zanu PF promised to ensure consistent economic growth of at least 6% per annum for the period 2018-23. Nothing of that sort has happened.”
Ncube said people should not waste their time listening to new promises while previous promises are still outstanding.
“The electorate should not be fooled, but should use manifestos to assess the performance of political parties before voting for them.”
He also cited Mnangagwa’s promise to complete the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway before 2023.
In an interview with South Africa’s NewsRoom Africa, Zanu PF national spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa recently claimed that government had empowered and enriched its people in the past 43 years it has been in power.
— NewsDay
