By Mashudu Netsianda
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga has flown back to China for a medical review and is expected back home soon, President Mnangagwa has said.
The President revealed this yesterday while addressing congregants during the third edition of the annual National Thanksgiving and Dedication Service at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Grounds in Bulawayo.
“I wish that as we pray, we also remember to pray for Vice-President Chiwenga who is back in China for medical review. He will be back in the country soon,” said President Mnangagwa.
VP Chiwenga returned home last month after his four-month-long stay in China where he was receiving treatment.
Upon his arrival, the Vice President thanked President Mnangagwa for facilitating his treatment in China and Zimbabweans for their prayers during his illness.
In August, President Mnangagwa announced that Chinese medical experts attended to VP Chiwenga and completed extensive tests before they began treatment.
In July, VP Chiwenga left South Africa, where he was receiving treatment, for China.
The transfer followed a decision by Zimbabwe and China to allow Chinese experts to join fellow experts in Zimbabwe, South Africa and India in attending to the Vice President.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa said it was important for Zimbabweans to join hands in giving thanks to God for protection throughout the year.
“I am pleased to join you today at this thanksgiving service as we approach the end of yet another year. We are grateful to the Almighty God for sustaining us in 2019 and indeed, he continues to be our centre, source and our sustainer,” he said.
“In the midst of all the trials and tribulations, we have faced as a nation, the Lord has been a shield around us, the one who lifts our heads, we call out to him and he answers us,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said the Second Republic espouses unity, harmony and national cohesion.
“This culture of togetherness must be our lifestyle as a nation. In Psalms 133 we read, ‘Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity… for there the Lord has commanded the blessing, even life for evermore,” he said.
The President also paid tribute to the Faith for the Nation Campaign chairperson Reverend Andrew Wutawunashe and the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) bishop, Nehemiah Mutendi, in his capacity as the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Indigenous Inter-denominational Council of Churches, for organising the event.
The annual event, held under the theme: Counting our Blessings: Let us, through Home-Grown Unity, Affirm Work and Pray to Achieve our National Vision, was inaugurated by the President in 2017. The Chronicle
