On Wednesday, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa addressed a gathering of over 150,000 supporters in the capital city of Harare. He emphasized that if they didn’t vote to re-elect him in the upcoming tense polls later this month, they would face uncertain prospects.

“If Harare fails to vote Zanu-PF, you will be lost,” the 80-year-old strongman said as he addressed a rally for his party Zanu-PF near the city centre.
“No one will stop us from ruling this country,” he said at the party’s first major rally in the capital.
On August 23rd, Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold elections to choose both the president and the legislature. Analysts anticipate a tense atmosphere due to ongoing dissent suppression, along with a disenchanted populace grappling with hyperinflation, poverty, and substantial unemployment.
Read also: Zimbabwe’s general elections are scheduled for August 23.
Concerns about potential election improprieties are widespread in a country that has been under the governance of the same party since gaining independence in 1980, marked by a history of contested election outcomes.
To facilitate the event, more than 100 buses have been coordinated to transport individuals from various provinces.
At the event, supporters received lunchboxes and party attire.

Some street vendors in Harare’s Mbare neighbourhood claimed to have been ordered to put their wares down and board buses to the event.
Nelson Chamisa, a 45-year-old lawyer and preacher who leads the nation’s main opposition group, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), will square off against Mnangagwa for a second time.
Chamisa charged Zanu-PF with “resorting to dirty tricks” because the party was in “panic mode” at the party’s manifesto unveiling on Tuesday night.
Read also: Chamisa Expresses Doubts on Zim Elections as Zanu PF Offers Voters Goats and Chickens.
According to experts, Zanu-PF is counting on a strong showing in its rural strongholds while the CCC is stronger in disenfranchised urban regions.
In exchange for his support, Chamisa allegedly promised Zimbabweans aid from Washington.
It’s dishonourable that Chamisa wants Biden to develop Zimbabwe, he added, adding that “every country” was “developed by its own people.”

Mnangagwa unveiled a borehole that had been dug at the location prior to his address.
In an effort to reassure Americans about the status of the economy and his leadership, the president has been on a ribbon-cutting binge lately.
He inaugurated a coal mine, a clinic, and a coal-fired power plant last week, all of which he claimed would significantly reduce the country’s electrical problems.

Mnangagwa, known as “The Crocodile” for his political astuteness, prevailed in a poll marred by violence with 50.8 percent of the vote.
He continued, “Peace remains our beacon, but there are… negative people outside the country who want us to be violent.”