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President Mugabe

Nduduzo Tshuma in Masvingo
PRESIDENT Mugabe is today set to officially open the 16th Zanu-PF Annual National People’s Conference here with the party yesterday warning that gate crashers will be chucked out of the venue.

The President arrived at the Masvingo Airport yesterday evening accompanied by First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe and their two sons Robert Jnr and Bellarmine.

They were welcomed by the two Vice Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Shuvai Mahofa, acting Zanu-PF provincial chairperson Cde Amasa Nhenjana, senior government and security officials.

In an interview at the Showgrounds, the venue of the conference, Zanu-PF secretary for administration Dr Ignatius Chombo yesterday said top on the agenda of the conference would be the economy.

“Obviously, the issue of the economy will be discussed, some ministers will present their success stories vis-a-vis our targets as contained in Zim-Asset so it is going to be a quite interesting and very rich conference from what I have seen, it’s really an interesting conference,” he said.

‘’The conference is starting in earnest tomorrow (Friday) when President Mugabe will officially open it. I am happy to announce that all the provinces have started to arrive and we are very pleased with the number of buses that have already checked in with delegates from various provinces. Other buses are on their way,” he said.
“We are also happy with the physical side of preparations for the conference, the water situation, the toilet situation and the feeding points are all in good shape.”

Dr Chombo said most of the delegates had already arrived in Masvingo by end of day yesterday following the arrival of 75 buses from various parts of the country.

‘’We have about 30 buses that are still to come but we expect them to check in today (yesterday) so that all the people are here for the start of the conference that will be marked by the official opening,’’ said Dr Chombo.

He said the party had secured adequate accommodation for delegates who would be housed in schools, lodges and houses provided by some Masvingo residents.

“Accommodation is spread all over and people are getting to the various schools where they have been booked because most of our people are staying in schools, the hotel space has all been taken up and we have also been offered more than 40 houses within the area to accommodate additional members,” said Dr Chombo.

He said the accreditation team yesterday and today would be accrediting invited guests from the region as the majority of local delegates had been accredited.

“If there are others who have not been accredited, it has to be one or two from each of the provinces and those would be attended to,” he said.
Commenting on reports of smuggled delegates, Dr Chombo said, “If you are smuggled in, it will be then easy to identify you and you are taken out, I don’t think you want to be smuggled in, we want you to be able to come in as a delegate and enjoy the benefits of this wonderful conference.”

He said on the sidelines of the conference, President Mugabe was expected to officially open the Muzenda Heritage Site in honour of the late Vice President Simon Muzenda.

The conference running under the theme, “Moving with Zim- Asset in Peace and Unity” started on Tuesday with the sitting of the Politburo at the Zanu-PF headquarters in Harare followed by the meeting of the Central Committee at the same venue on Wednesday.

President Mugabe is scheduled to officially close the conference tomorrow.