Online Reporter
The 22nd Zanu-PF National People’s Conference enters its third day today, with delegates travelling to Mutare, the venue for this year’s edition.
The five-day annual conference, being held under the theme, “Attainment of Vision 2030 through Economic Empowerment and Value Addition,” started with a Politburo meeting in Harare on Tuesday. A Central Committee meeting, also in the capital, followed yesterday.
About 5 000 delegates are expected in Mutare today ahead of the official opening of the event tomorrow.
In between discussions, President Mnangagwa will commission a milling plant owned by Mega Market and a Government-owned pharmaceutical warehouse at Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital in that city. He will also launch the national tree-planting initiative by planting a tree at a site where the new Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial headquarters will be built.
Zanu-PF is the ruling party; thus, the masses expect the conference to undertake a robust assessment of the developments that have taken place since the 21st conference in Bulawayo and come up with resolutions to move the country into a future of greater socio-economic prosperity.
President Mnangagwa set the tone when addressing the Politburo on Tuesday.
“The gathering is by no means routine, but presents our party structures with another opportunity to consolidate the aspirations, ideas, observations, and recommendations of the people of our great motherland, Zimbabwe. Our focus, therefore, must be on providing leadership and guidance for consolidating our unity and the party’s strength,” he said.
“Further, we must grasp this moment to recalibrate all cadres to deepen knowledge and understanding of the nature and purpose of the party. We must ensure that the rank and file remain clear that all activities, programmes and projects, implemented by our Zanu PF-led Government, serve the interests of the majority of our people for shared prosperity.”
Notwithstanding the ever-present challenges, the country has witnessed much development over the past year.
Thanks to the various policies the Government implemented, the economy is set to grow by 6.6 percent this year from two percent in 2024, with the gross domestic product reaching $52.3 billion by December, up from $45.7 billion last year.
Backed by favourable weather, the country harvested 2.2 million tonnes of cereals this year; maize accounting for 1.8 million tonnes. Authorities have projected that farmers will pick around 600 000 tonnes of wheat this year, a notable jump from 563 960 tonnes harvested in 2024.
The Government intensified its infrastructure development drive over the past year. Construction of roads, healthcare facilities, schools, and so on is continuing apace. Among them, we recognise the launch of rehabilitation works on the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road in July. We look forward to that key node in the economy being trafficable once again. The mining sector is booming too, thanks to its traditional driver — gold.
The central bank reported recently that output of the yellow metal rose to 33 tonnes in the first nine months of this year, from 24 tonnes in the 2024 comparative period. With three months to go, we are optimistic that the 2025 production guidance of 40 tonnes of gold will be exceeded.
Other minerals are doing extremely well as well, among them lithium, chrome and platinum.
These are some of the successes posted so far this year; achievements, which the conference will recognise. The masses expect the ruling party to come up with resolutions to consolidate that progress.
Bongani Ndlovu