Bulawayo forges ahead with unity

forthcoming harmonised elections.
In a wide-ranging interview on Tuesday, Prof Ndlovu said he was working with the previous executive and six other appointed cadres, among them technocrats and veteran politicians, to stabilise the party in the province.

He was appointed to chair the province two weeks ago to stem cases of indiscipline, disunity and general apathy in Bulawayo.

“What the party leadership did was to look for someone who could stabilise the situation in Bulawayo,” said Prof Ndlovu.

“They felt I was the best for it, hence the appointment. I have been in this position before from 1984 to 1987; I was provincial chairman for the party in Bulawayo. Before that I served in Zapu as a member of the Revolutionary Council and Zapu representative in North America.

“In this appointment, we were charged with specific tasks some of which I cannot spell out in public. But we were appointed to stabilise the party for the elections that must be held by the end of June.

The party also wants us to come up with development programmes and strategies to mobilise the people.

“We are doing that. We are meeting every Wednesday, looking specifically at what we would have achieved or not in the previous week and looking ahead to the next. We want real results and specific tasks for the province.”

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Prof Ndlovu said after his appointment by the Politburo, he appointed six cadres, mostly members of the Central Committee, to reinforce the existing provincial structure.

He appointed Alderman Denis Ndlovu to work in the administration and finance department, Cde Judith Ncube (women and youth wings), Alderman David Ndlovu commissariat and affiliate groups like war veterans, war collaborators and detainees), Cde Ismail Jassat (security and discipline), Cde Peter Baka Nyoni, a development expert (information and publicity) and Cde Lyton Majada (transport).

“These are people specifically seconded to the departments to assist to consolidate the existing structure,” said Prof Ndlovu.

“We are geared for the elections; that is the task we have. If you look at the people who voted in the province in 2008, around 250 000 didn’t turn up, only about 70 000 voted. We intend to address that in the next election. We are confident we will do that and we will do well as a party.”

Prof Ndlovu said the relationship between his team of appointees and the elected members of the executive was cordial.

“Soon after my appointment, I had a meeting with Cde (Killian) Sibanda, the former chairman and talked to him about the mandate we have from the Politburo,” he said.

“He understood and everyone understands that we did not appoint ourselves. It is not about individuals, but the party.”

Prof Ndlovu, a member of the Central Committee and former minister, said indiscipline that threatened to bring down the provincial executive would not be tolerated.