It’s back to basics

Zanu-PF should comprehensively train members on party ideology to curtail corruption and stimulate economic development, a senior Chinese official has said.
Speaking at an inter-party training workshop in Harare yesterday, visiting Vice-Minister of the Communist Party of China’s International Department Mrs Xu Lyuping said schools of ideological orientation in various parts of China had helped shape the CPC and the country.

“I came here to attend the Zanu-PF Extraordinary Congress that was held (on Friday) and to also extend our support to the new Government,” she said.

“Today, I presented the CPC Congress (held in October 2017) Report, what we have done in the past five years and what we are going to do in the future. Zanu-PF and the CPC have both been in power for many years. The role that ideological orientation schools play in the development of a country is of great importance, in particular in fighting corruption. So, I presented on how to fight corruption and encouraged training and retraining party cadres on party ideology.”

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Special Advisor, Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa, said it is important to revive such schools across party structures. “Knowlegde on its own is not enough. Knowledge should have a purpose, and Zimbabwe has a lot of people who have knowledge, but have no purpose, and the missing link has been ideology. Ideology gives people targets and goals. Now, the resumption of training party caders . . . our country can have people working in unison to achieve common goals. There are so many educated people, but because there is no purpose within that education, there is no focus. G40 wanted to completely destroy the legacy of the war because there was a vacuum.”

Herbert Chitepo Ideological College principal Cde Munyaradzi Machacha chipped in: “We have learnt that the economy must receive as much attention as politics. That was also emphasised by the President in his address at the Congress on Friday. We have also learnt that leadership positions must be taken up by people who have gone through the party’s ideological teachings and understand global and regional dynamics.

“This will help leaders gain knowledge to lead in the right direction. So, we are certainly going to implement some of the measures adopted by the CPC so that we achieve targets set by the party.”

Zanu-PF recently began collaborating with Herbert Chitepo Ideological College on acquainting party cadres with the party’s core values and principles.