Conference preps: Team Masvingo on schedule

The Interview Sydney Kawadza

With less than a month before zanu-pf holds its 16th Annual National People’s Conference in Masvingo, the provincial organisation committee is bubbling with confidence after surpassing most of its targets in preparation for the big event. The Herald Senior Features Writer Sydney Kawadza (SK) caught up with the zanu-pf provincial secretary for finance who also chairs the provincial fundraising committee Cde Killer Zivhu (KZ) to discuss progress made in Masvingo Province, unity among cadres and other issues.

SK: Masvingo Province will be hosting the 16th Zanu-PF Annual National People’s Conference in less than a month’s time, could you please update us on progress made so far?

KZ: The preparations are going on very smoothly with all the construction works almost complete and everything is going according plan. We believe we will be through with all the work in the next two weeks as we have set a target to complete all preparations in the coming fortnight. We have set the target to complete all preparations in two weeks and we are on target.

SK: You sound every confident in as far as the preparations are concerned. Did you meet any challenges in your preparations?

KZ: Our main challenge was fuel. We had challenges in fuel supplies, but we have decided to continue our preparations with the little fuel that we mobilised from cadres and our traditional sponsors. However, the national secretary for Administration Cde Ignatius Chombo has assured us that the situation would be rectified very soon and supplies will be made available for the smooth completion of the preparations.

SK: We recently saw the fundraising committee led by the national secretary for Finance Cde Obert Mpofu raise $4.5million which was way above their target. What activities have been engaged in to fundraise for the conference?

KZ: As a province we were given a target, that is, $50 000 and 50 head of cattle and we have since surpassed that target. We did not have special programmes for fundraising, but as a province we have our traditional partners and sponsors who have once again partnered us to fundraise for the forthcoming conference. These are our perennial sponsors, donors and partners who came to us as usual to give us the support we need. The funds and material are still pouring in and we want to thank everyone in Masvingo Province for the support they rendered to the organising committee.

SK: And the support from other provinces?

KZ: The fundraising from other provinces is channelled directly to the national organising committee.

SK: The conference comes at a time when Zimbabwe is in the rainy season and the venue, Masvingo Agricultural Showgrounds, is on an open space. What provisions have you made to deal with the rains and/or in some instances dust, in case its dry?

KZ: We have prepared in cognisance of some of these challenges. At the moment the ground is being compacted so that no amount of dust would affect proceedings during the conference. We will also be erecting tents that are enough for the main proceedings, the tents where delegates would be fed and I would like to assure all delegates that the venue will be well-prepared for the conference.

In fact, Cde Chombo has assured us that all logistics related to us hosting a very successful would be in place. So even if it rains, even if a hurricane hits Masvingo during the conference, we would be ready. All the logistical preparations are in place.

SK: There are allegations that Masvingo is the home of factionalism, people would be interested to know your response to that and whether you have been working as a unit ahead of the conference.

KZ: Masvingo Province is united, in fact, we have never been this united as a province. We are working together in harmony for the successful hosting of the people’s conference. If there are individuals who have differences it has never come out among the leadership in Masvingo and that does not affect the way we work as a province. The issue of factionalism is dead and buried in Masvingo. We have no factions in the provincial structures we are solidly united as a leadership and its structures. Our unity can be equated to a rock, a rock that makes the foundation of a dam wall. Our strength in unity is like the Kariba Dam wall, which is unshakeable.

SK: Lastly Cde Zivhu, what is your message to Zanu-PF cadres in Masvingo and Zimbabwe at large?

KZ: Zanu-PF is a party guided by principles and one of the major principles is unity. Unity guides us as a party and this the unity that will guarantee our strength against all our adversaries.

We won the 2013 elections on the strength of our manifesto and this culminated in the crafting of the Zim-Asset policy document that guides all our economic endeavours. Zanu-PF has its manifesto which also guides the Zim-Asset policy document.

For the policies to work we need to be united as a party and this unity would lead to our invincibility.

We are guided, as a province, with this year’s theme; “Moving with Zim-Asset in Peace and Unity”.

As you are aware, Zim-Asset has been well implemented in Masvingo province, especially in my district, Chivi, where the policy document has been implemented to the village, in fact, family level.

In fact, Masvingo has been the torch-bearer in as much as the implementation of the Zim-Asset policy document than any other province in Zimbabwe.

So we urge our comrades in Zanu-PF to work hard for the full implementation of Zim-Asset so that Zimbabwe realises its development goals.

I would also like to urge my fellow comrades to avoid being controlled by the newspapers. It seems politicians are now being managed by the media. We should take a cue from what the President said recently and remain united as members of a party under one centre of power.

Let’s shun corruption and remember the people who gave us the mandate to lead. The leadership should think of the people, first, so that they can deliver on their mandate.

Let’s work for the masses and development of our great country, Zimbabwe.