Mnangagwa abandons the “down with” individuals slogan, goes for issues

Full closing speech at congress

Ndatenda! Ndatenda! Ndatenda!

Ngiyabonga! Ngiyabonga! Ngiyabonga!

This morning when I made my opening remarks, I was your interim President and I was your interim President so I was careful of what I said, and I was neutral. Now that I am your President, I feel free to say what I think.

I will give my closing statement first, then I will move on to make some appointments.

This morning I opened this memorable and historic Extraordinary Session of our Party Congress which was convened specifically to ratify the resolutions of the Special Session of the Central Committee held on 19th November 2017. To this end, allow me to applaud you all as Congress delegates here gathered, for the manner you conducted today’s programme. I am emboldened and uplifted by the resolve, clarity and decisiveness with which you endorsed and concluded our deliberations.

This Extraordinary Congress, attended by over 6 000, in fact I am told over 7 000 Party members from across the country, proves, as if proof were needed, that ours is a Party full of committed and devoted cadres. We are indeed a competent and forward thinking Party able to define a new vision, without being swayed from its founding and defining principles, as it enters a New Era. I salute each and every one of you. I am proud to be your comrade. I am proud to call you my comrades.

I would like to express, my profound gratitude to the Party, as represented by Congress delegates here present, for confirming me as the President and First Secretary of our revolutionary Party and also endorsing me as the Party’s Presidential Candidate in the forthcoming 2018 Harmonised General Elections. Thank you for finding me worthy of your trust, worthy to be the leader and servant of this colossal Party. I beseech you Comrades, to keep those steadying and supporting hands on me as I assume this onerous role. I appeal for your continued honest and frank counsel, for your forbearance, kind and generous judgment, as we chart a new trajectory in our Party and Government, never losing sight of the milestones we have achieved in the past.

Let us be mindful that Zanu-PF is not the Party of its leader, but the Party of its members, a Party for us all. As your President and First Secretary, I am the first among equals, but equals we are. Each individual cadre is essential and each individual cadre will help shape our destiny. We are bound and interwoven inextricably by the threads of our Party Constitution, by individual and collective duties therein stated. Let us vow from today, to uphold, respect and defend our Party Constitution for it binds us, unites us and defines us. Let us protect it at all costs.

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