7 000 accredited for Zanu-PF conference Saviour Kasukuwere
Saviour Kasukuwere

Saviour Kasukuwere

George Maponga in Masvingo
Nearly 7 000 delegates have been accredited to attend the 16th Zanu PF annual national people’s conference that opens at the Masvingo Showgrounds tomorrow.

There are calls for the ruling party to make sure only those who were supposed to attend the conference were accredited.

Zanu-PF National Political Commissar Cde Saviour Kasukuwere at the weekend revealed that the ruling party had learned from its mistakes at previous conferences and would be very strict in the accreditation process.

Briefing Vice Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko during a tour to assess progress at the conference venue on Saturday, Cde Kasukuwere said the accreditation of delegates to the conference had been centralised in Harare.

He warned those wishing to gatecrash the conference that they would be disappointed.

This comes amid allegations that some delegates were unprocedurally accredited after their names were clandestinely submitted by senior party official from their provinces.

‘’We have so far accredited 6 772 delegates including members of our presidium and their spouses, 30 politburo members, 267 Central Committee members, members of the National Constitutional Assembly, students, provincial executive members of our party together with representatives from war veterans, war collaborators and detainees and our party’s foreign branches in Johannesburg, and the UK,’’ he said.

‘’The accreditation exercise will be completed in Harare on Tuesday this week, where we will complete the exercise with the accreditation of Central Committee members and foreign delegates,’’ he added.

Cde Kasukuwere said the ruling party wanted the accreditation exercise to be centralised and completed in Harare to avoid challenges faced at previous Zanu PF indabas. ‘’We want the accreditation to be done and finished in Harare and will not allow a situation where some people will come at the venue and demand to be accredited. We do not want a repeat of the problems that we encountered in Matebeleland North (last year’s Victoria Falls conference) where some people caused problems at the venue demanding to be accredited, ‘’he said.

He said almost all the structures were now in place to accommodate delegates at the conference adding that the main arena with the capacity to house all the delegates was ready.

Cde Kasukuwere said the people of Masvingo were going to benefit from hosting the ruling party conference as the party had invested in the installation of permanent structures such as sewer pipeline at the Showgrounds, telecommunication services and roads.

The ruling party in Masvingo managed to mobilise nearly 7 000 beds for the delegates to the conference who will be accommodated in hotels, lodges, colleges, universities and schools in and around Masvingo city.

Almost all the hotels and lodges in the city have been fully booked for the duration of the conference that will be held under the theme, ‘’Moving with Zim-Asset in Peace and Unity,’’ and some Masvingo homeowners were also bracing for brisk business by renting out their houses to those who will fail to access hotel accommodation.

The Vice Presidents on Saturday toured the conference venue where they expressed satisfaction with the structures and facilities that have been put in place for the indaba.

Besides pitching of tents to house the delegates, access roads to and from the venue have been completed together with drilling of five boreholes to augment supplies from Masvingo city council. A state of the art toilet was also nearing completion to add on to the close to 150 mobile toilets that will be in place.

VP Mnangagwa hailed the Masvingo Zanu PF leadership led by Cdes Josaya Hungwe and Shuvai Mahofa for spearheading preparations for the conference that saw the province managing to raise 52 beasts to feed delegates during the week-long conference.

He however cautioned on the need for discipline during the conference and also making sure that only the rightful delegates were in attendance for the conference to be a success.

Masvingo will be hosting this year’s Zanu PF National Annual People’s conference for the first time since 2003 when it hosted the conference at Masvingo Teachers’ College. Last year’s conference was held in Victoria Falls and the ruling party has already said this year’s conference will not be elective but will rather focus on efforts to revive the economy as the party gears for the 2018 harmonised elections.

 

You Might Also Like

Comments