The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZanuPF held its congress this past weekend and despite anticipation of fireworks, it passed without anything worth writing home about.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was endorsed as the party’s presidential candidate for next year’s general elections, with all Zanu PF structures expected to rally fully behind him.
Making a rare public appearance, Vice President, Constantino Chiwenga, who some thought would challenge his boss, was instead full of praise for the President.
The whole scenario reminded me of how back in the days, there was always speculation about how the late former President Robert Mugabe would be challenged at such gatherings.
That never happened until the man was forced out of power in 2017.
Mnangagwa’s endorsement at the congress also marked the official launch of Zanu PF’s campaign ahead of the 2023 polls. There is already talk that the elections might be held earlier than anticipated as the party is fully confident of victory.
Elections are normally held around the end of July but reports suggest the country might go to the polls as early as May.
And now that the ruling party has officially launched its campaign, we must just brace ourselves for more lies and promises. We are already being told that the economy has grown under Mnangagwa and that it will even record massive growth in the coming months.
We are expected to believe this despite the harsh reality of the hard times we are living under – hard times that are plain for all to see!
Anyway, hopefully this time around the campaign period will be peaceful.
Past elections have been marked by pre and post elections violence leading to unnecessary loss of lives.
In other news, I couldn’t resist writing about the eight-year-old girl child who is eight months pregnant and currently admitted at the Bulawayo United Hospitals awaiting delivery.
This is the youngest person ever known to fall pregnant in the Zimbabwe. The story has generated so much interest with the police now investigating the case as answers are being sought on who could have impregnated the child.
It appears though that the child is a victim of sexual violation and was threatened by the perpetrator because as of Tuesday this week, she had remained mum on who the culprit might be.
The child was taken to the hospital by social welfare officers who came across the case in the Tsholotsho district, Matabeleland North last Friday.
While abortion is illegal in Zimbabwe, hospitals can terminate pregnancies after rape victims obtain a court order. In this case doctors decided an abortion was out of the question as she is already eight months pregnant.
Such a sad thing for the child who has already lost her childhood.
