adminCletus Mushanawani News Editor
THE Sixth Zanu-PF National People’s Congress, which ended at the Robert Mugabe Square last Saturday, will go down in history as the most successful one, with the ruling party emerging well-oiled and ready to steamroll over any forces that stand in its way.
The carnival atmosphere throughout the conference was clear testimony that the people’s party was ready to serve the masses of Zimbabwe and take them to the Promised Land of total sovereignty.
Delegates’ body language spoke volumes of a people who had long wanted to see the party reclaiming its past glory of having true cadres who were there to serve the multitude of Zimbabweans who have suffered mostly from the devastating effects of illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the West.
The congress was also a reminder to power-hungry individuals and fence-sitters that the masses have the power to show them the exit door.
President Mugabe summed up how some elements in the ruling party had turned their backs on the founding principles of the revolutionary party.
He said: “. . . You bore the burden of rebuilding Zanu-PF’s broken structures for resurgent electoral mighty. You did so against many subterfuges calculated to keep you divided. True to tradition, once the polls programme was set out, you embraced it, influential Doubting Thomases, including some within our party. For within our midst were some who had long deserted positions and posts to which the party had deployed them, who had found new friends in enemies of the party. These culprits had covertly teamed up with elements within MDC formations, often with the support of hostile foreign countries who relished the opportunity of breaking Zanu-PF from within. This treacherous cabal went against the party, went against resolutions of successive Annual People’s conferences which called for harmonised elections as soon as these fell due.
“It became clear to us that the Inclusive Government had given some of us some opportunity for dirty politics, dirtier business alliances founded on Government projects and dirtier conspiracies which sought to destabilise the party and even the country. In this cauldron of unholy alliances and activities, the ideals of Zanu-PF were wantonly cast aside and sacrificed, as these characters pursued personal agendas and ambitions.”
The characters have since been named and shamed with President Mugabe heeding the call from delegates to the Congress to dismiss all rotten apples from their posts in Government.
The axe has since fallen on Vice-President, Cde Joice Mujuru, who received her dismissal letter on Monday.
Her close cronies to face the same music were Minister of Presidential Affairs Didymus Mutasa, who was also party secretary for administration, Labour Minister Nicholas Goche, Indigenisation Minister Francis Nhema, Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Dr Olivia Muchena, ICT minister as well as Zanu-PF secretary for commissariat Webster Shamu and Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs Minister Simbaneuta Mudarikwa.
Earlier reports said President Mugabe fired Energy Minister Dzikamai Mavhaire and his deputy Engineer Munacho Mutezo.
Ministers Mavhaire and Mutezo are alleged to have coerced ZESA into depositing $40 000 in the Zanu-PF Manicaland Women’s League account in July, which was used to fund factional activities aimed at toppling President Mugabe.
The above mentioned leaders failed to do the Zanu-PF way of tamba wakachenjera and President Mugabe said last week: “Sevatungamiri, hatisi tose taive tichatamba takachenjera the Zanu-PF way. Tainge tave kutamba musangano tichifunga kuti takachenjera, tava kuita bhora musango zvakare, more-so after the polls.
“Leaders are custodians of the values of our party. When they fail these same values they are entrusted to keep, they disqualify themselves, thereby going one way: down, down and down to the dust. Spat out like dark gobble, spat out by the people.”
During the Congress, unity of the party was stressed upon, with speaker after speaker calling for a united Zanu-PF.
The First Lady and national secretary for Women’s League, Dr Grace Mugabe, said: “I emphasised that the unity of the party must be safeguarded at all times and as Women’s League we must take it upon ourselves to grow the party. As mothers, we wield tremendous influence over our children, the youths and on our husbands as well.”
With the Congress now part of our history where far reaching resolutions were made, it is high time every patriotic Zimbabwean embraced the theme of the 2014 Congress: “Accelerating Implementation of Zim-Asset.”
Zim-Asset’s vision is towards an empowered society and a growing economy.
Already key decisions have been taken on value-addition and beneficiation as this appertains to the key mining sector.
President Mugabe said: “Zim-Asset sets out a very clear activity in the next five years, all of which is built around four clusters: Agriculture and Food Security; Social Services and Poverty Eradication; Infrastructure and Utilities and Value Addition and Beneficiation.
“Our detractors wait for a major din the cosmos to mark a beginning to the implementation of Zim-Asset. Today, we invite them to listen to their full stomachs for them to know that greater food security and nutrition is already being realised through sustained agricultural effort which gave us an all round bumper harvest in the last season. Already this one key cluster under Zim-Asset has taken off and is set to be consolidated in the current agricultural season which is already upon us.”
On mining, President Mugabe said: “We will see key investments in the platinum and diamond sectors, both of them to reinforce what is already underway in the chrome industry. Of course, starting next year, key interventions are set to be made in our industry, with a view of reviving it. The national budget presented last week mooted this direction which should be done in partnership with foreign capital. To that end, we continue to engage countries and institutions of goodwill, mobilising foreign direct investment which should help recover our economy, and to add value to our natural endowments.”
President Mugabe’s statements were also buttressed by resolutions made by delegates to the Congress.
The delegates resolved that: “Government embarks on developing and implementing mechanisms for unlocking the value that is inherent in Zimbabwe’s abundant natural and human assets; further resolves that Government develops strategies that maximise the benefit that can be derived from the nation’s stalled infrastructure and capacity; directs Government to adopt and implement policies that encourage the growth of a vibrant Small and Medium Enterprise sector driven by entrepreneurship; urges Government to facilitate development and implementation of policies that increase and enhance broad-based inclusive participation of the indigenous people in the economy; calls upon Government to ensure judicious deployment of domestic savings such as NSSA funds, Insurance and Pension Funds and for Government to accord prescribed assets status to projects and investments of a strategic nature and further calls upon Government to create an enabling environment to attract Foreign Direct Investment.”
Having been well-oiled, the Zanu-PF machinery should start rolling and help to restore the country’s past glory reclaiming its status as the breadbasket of Southern Africa.
On the political front, the delegates’ call for the establishment of the Herbert Chitepo Ideology College by December 2015 should be speeded up.
The party should also compel all those assuming and occupying leadership positions within the party and Government to undergo a set period of training and education at the Chitepo Ideological College once it is set to ensure zero tolerance on incompetence, gross misconduct, corruption, disloyalty and treachery at all levels of its leadership.
Online Reporter