ZIMBABWEAN President Emmerson Mnangagwa called on the country to “put the election period behind us and embrace the future” at today’s Heroes Day holiday.

The day commemorates martyrs of the country’s long struggle against colonial rule, which culminated in the victory of Zanu-PF under Robert Mugabe’s leadership in 1980.

Current Zanu-PF leader Mr Mnangagwa has not yet been sworn in despite victory in the July 30 election because the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has challenged the result.

Its claim that the vote was rigged sparked protests which police fired on, killing six people, at the start of the month.

Mr Mnangagwa also assured supporters of former president Mr Mugabe, who backed the MDC against his own Zanu-PF in the election, saying he could not vote for those behind his removal last November, that he would maintain his predecessor’s land redistribution.

“Let’s take a leaf from our departed and living heroes and heroines. The land reform is finished and irreversible,” he declared.