2.3 Povincial Highlights Harare “Silly season winds blow from the Capital” ZIMBABWE PEACE PROJECT MONTHLY MONITORING REPORT JULY 2021 It was at the ZanuPF Politburo meeting held on July 14 that ZanuPF set the tone for its 2023 ambitions for five million votes and where President Emmerson Mnangagwa outlined the intention to ‘silence’ those perceived to be enemies. This happened as President Mnangagwa set up a ZanuPF committee to ‘fundraise’ US$140 million to ‘fund the party’s cell restructuring and data capturing exercise that would lay a firm foundation for modernizing the administration of the party’ In a strange turn of events Mnangagwa rewarded minor political players under his Political Actors’ Dialogue (POLAD) platform with brand new double cab trucks worth over a million US dollars. On the other side of politics, the opposition MDC Alliance said they have a ‘solid’ plan to deal with what they called attempts to neutralize the opposition. Without being clear, MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa wrote on his Facebook page: Precedence has shown that these are clear signs that the election season is officially upon us. In more ways than one, it’s silly season. Meanwhile, ZanuPF continued to violate COVID-19 protocols on gatherings. For four successive days, starting on 3 July the party organized and sponsored informal soccer and netball matches in Dzivarasekwa, played at Nehanda grounds in the suburb. The match started with under 12 players for both soccer and netball to main players. The matches, which were meant to boost support for ZanuPF, drew spectators to gather in what was against the COVID-19 protocols. 9

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