ZANU-PF Sets Chinhoyi Conference Dates

Women rally at the ZANU-PF National People's Conference held in Bulawayo. The revolutionary party and founder of modern Zimbabwe is preparing for elections in 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Zanu-PF sets Chinhoyi conference dates

October 5, 2013
Hebert Zharare Political Editor
Zimbabwe Herald

ZANU-PF’s 14th Annual National People’s Conference will be held from December 10 to 15 in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West, and the host province is working flat-out to ensure the event is a resounding success, party spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said yesterday. The dates, he said, were agreed on during the party’s conference co-ordination committee meeting held on Wednesday and which was chaired by national chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo.

“The conference will start on the 10th and end on the 15th of December. The Politburo meeting will be held on the 10th in Harare followed by the Central Committee meeting the following day (in Harare).

“The people will travel to Chinhoyi on the 12th, while the conference will officially be opened on the 13th (by the First Secretary and President of Zanu-PF Cde RG Mugabe).

“The conference ends on the 14th and the people will leave for their respective provinces the following day,” said Cde Gumbo.

Last year Zanu-PF held its conference in Gweru under the theme “Indigenise, Empower, Develop and Create Employment” which also became the theme of the party’s campaign for the harmonised elections and this year’s theme will be announced later, Cde Gumbo said.

He said Zanu-PF received a briefing from the host province, adding that various committees on agenda, transport, finance and accommodation, among others, were activated to mobilise resources.

The party intended to construct a US$10 million dollar conference facility in Chinhoyi, but time is fast running out that a decision was made during Wednesday’s meeting to erect a pre-fabricated structure for the event.

About 6 000 people attended the Gweru conference and almost the same number is expected to converge in Chinhoyi for the 14th Annual National People’s Conference.

“On Wednesday we had our first meeting of the conference co-ordination committee and we discussed a number of issues and we also got a briefing from Chinhoyi.

“They suggested an infrastructure like the Gweru conference centre but that would take time to complete. So for this year we will have a pre-fabricated conference centre like the one that was used for the UNWTO General Assembly in Victoria Falls.

“It will have all the rooms for conference, rooms for the presidium and other offices. Some of the equipment is going to be ordered outside the country,” said Cde Gumbo, who declined to disclose how much is needed to host the event, referring all questions to Zanu-PF secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa.

Speculation had been high that Zanu-PF would convene a special congress. Zanu-PF won 160 seats of the 210 contested seats in the just ended elections with the MDC-T winning a paltry 49 while one seat was won by an independent.

With the inclusion of seats from proportional representation Zanu-PF has 197, the MDC-T 70 while the Welshman Ncube led MDC formation has two.

President Mugabe trounced his MDC-T opponent Mr Morgan Tsvangirai after he garnered 61,09 percent of the vote compared to the opposition leader’s 33,94 percent.