The main Opposition President Nelson Chamisa took center stage on arrival at the Independence celebrations when thousands of Zimbabweans reacted with a thunderous applause.
Chamisa arrived flanked by top opposition officials before taking a reserved seat in the VIP section.
Zimbabwe commemorates its independence from the British on the 18th of April every year.
In his independence message Chamisa said, “As a new generation and as a post-liberation political formation, our mandate and our mission is to be the compass of that struggle by ensuring that the people‘s aspirations are fulfilled”.
“The totality of Zimbabweans must be respected and thanked because it is them who fought the liberation struggle. All Zimbabweans deserve respect, including war veterans, dead and alive, war collaborators, ex-detainees and those who were in their fathers’ loins and in their mothers’ wombs,” he emphasised.
elections.
The opposition parties demanded to be part of the celebrations arguing that they are a national event.
This is the first Independence gala opposition opposition parties have been invited and recognised, in a sign of political tolerance from the new President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is expected to address the multitudes of Zimbabweans.
Since 1980 the former leader Robert Mugabe has been presiding over the ceremony and this is the first time in over three decades that Mugabe is absent.
Mugabe was deposed during a military coup which propelled Emmerson Mnangagwa to the highest office.
