……..Cde Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa’s Message on the Second Anniversary of the Death of Former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Harare, 6th September 2021.

As the Nation remembers the Second Anniversary of the passing on of our Founding Father, Leader, and Inaugural President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe, let us focus on his illustrious life of selfless sacrifice for the political freedom and Independence we enjoy in our country today. There is no better way to remember him than by recalling to ourselves the values which he stood for and embracing them as our own in order to develop our country in peace and harmony.

The Founding Father of our Nation distinguished himself as a principled man who would never compromise on what was right and just for his people. Quite often he would remind us about what the late Kwame Nkrumah said about adherence to principle. He said, “principles should never be sacrificed on the altar of expediency”.

Our Liberation Struggle was waged over our Land which had been taken away from us by the white settler imperialists, thus justifying our noble cause. Now that we own our Land, we cannot ever let go because it is sacrosanct. It is therefore incumbent upon every Zimbabwean to protect and defend our Land at all costs. The Land defines our sovereignty, and to lose for whatever reason, would be a great betrayal to our patriarch and all the heroes of our Liberation Struggle.

Our inaugural President of the Republic, taught us that right is might, challenging the great powers of the world that espoused the doctrine of might is right. Our late leader would always invoke one of the key tenets of the United Nations Charter which asserts the sovereign equality of Nations.

Equally, he would remind us and the world that Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans, and that the destiny of our Nation lies in our own hands. Hence, whatever we do. We do it for ourselves as Zimbabweans foremost and for nobody else. That is why Land Reform which he pioneered is irreversible. Sanctions or no sanctions, he would not shy away from reminding the British the land question was not negotiable. Hence, under the Second Republic, we are now focusing on land productivity to underpin the speedy transformation of our economy including ensuring food security. Land is the Economy, the Economy is the Land, we have repeatedly said.

May his soul rest in eternal peace re-assured of our resolute commitment to defending and promoting the everlasting values and ethos of the Liberation Struggle.

E.D. Mnangagwa