Joseph Madzimure
Zimpapers Politics Hub
ZANU PF has registered more than 63 000 new members who crossed over from opposition parties this year, taking cumulative recruitment under its Kumusha/Home/Ekhaya programme to more than 295 000 since its launch in 2021.
The latest recruitment figures, contained in the party’s Central Committee Report, point to a sustained drive by the ruling party to expand its structures in urban and peri-urban areas traditionally dominated by the opposition.
The programme has deployed more than 300 volunteer coordinators, mainly former opposition Members of Parliament, councillors and senior officials, to spearhead recruitment across 100 constituencies covering 743 wards.
“Since the last Conference, the programme registered over 63 000 new members bringing cumulative recruitment since its 2021 launch to more than 295 000. This includes 55 former MPs, 16 former mayors and council chairpersons and over 100 former councillors,” the report reads.
ZANU PF National Political Commissar Cde Munyaradzi Machacha said the party was also strengthening the integration of new members into its structures through ideological training and orientation.
During the year, 730 members underwent ideological training alongside local party structures, while others received orientation before being assimilated into the party.
The approach, Cde Machacha said, had helped build rapport between returning members and existing structures while strengthening party organisation in areas traditionally regarded as opposition strongholds.
The recruitment drive comes as the party seeks to consolidate its grassroots structures and broaden its organisational footprint ahead of future electoral contests.
On the vetting of party affiliates, Cde Machacha said the Commissariat Department, working with the Department of National Security, had completed the vetting process.
Of the 252 applications received, 80 were recommended for approval.
Cde Machacha said approval was now being determined using a new formula based on an affiliate’s contribution to party growth, as confirmed by the respective provinces.
He said the Commissariat Department remained focused on consolidating grassroots structures, completing the party’s membership database, deepening mobilisation and maintaining a united, disciplined and responsive organisation.
The department has also begun digitalising ZANU PF structures in the Diaspora as part of efforts to improve coordination and maintain an updated membership database.
“All Diaspora structures were instructed to submit their membership by mid-August this year. Only Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa have substantive structures in place, while the remaining structures are operating on an interim basis,” Cde Machacha said.
ZANU PF has Diaspora structures in 20 countries, including Angola, Australia, Botswana, Canada, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, the Republic of Ireland, Russia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia.
