By TimesLive

BIG promises and bizarre allegations bordering on the near impossible are inherent as political parties try to out-smart each other as Zimbabwe heads towards the polls in about three months’ time.

In March‚ having taken over the reigns of power after the death of former MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai‚ the MDC Alliance’s presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa had big shoes to fill.

Not a Tsvangirai equivalent in terms of charisma but with his own attributes‚ Chamisa at a rally in Bindura declared that he would introduce high speed bullet trains when voted into power.

“We want to have the best infrastructure in the next two to three years…we want to bring bullet trains that travel at 600km/hour from Bulawayo to Harare in 30-35 minutes‚” he said as the crowd cheered.

In his speech he poked fun at president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government as being backward.

However‚ the “bullet speech” as it has come to be known‚ earned him direct ridicule from Zanu-PF.

Vice President‚ Retired Army General Constantino Chiwenga‚ at Zanu-PF’s election manifesto launch in Harare on Friday called Chamisa a “juvenile politician” and also declared that Zanu-PF’s manifesto was the party’s response to “dismantle juvenile politics”.

“We shall have time to dismantle their little‚ make-believe dreams as we get down to real campaign work. Why reach Bulawayo in 40 minutes when Harare workers can’t reach Kuwadzana in five hours? What open cans of spaghetti when potholes straddle single lane roads in the city centre?

“Shouldn’t these starry-eyed juvenile politicians take us to Mabvuku after a hard day’s work before they put us on ‘Apollo 11’ [referring to bullet trains] to the moon?” Chiwenga said.

But Zanu-PF’s $200-million campaign also came with its own jaw dropping promises.

The party‚ in its manifesto entitled “Unite‚ Fight Corruption‚ Develop‚ Re-engage‚ and Create jobs”‚ contains a claim that the party would build 1.5-million houses in just five years.

Political rivals and analysts took out their calculators and realised that the party claimed it would build an average of 822 houses per day for five years.

Independent candidate for the Mount Pleasant parliamentary seat‚ Advocate Fadzayi Mahere‚ went on to ask: “How will this be funded? Who’ll build these houses? Will people have to buy them? With what money‚” before concluding that‚ “We are being lied to again.”