People’s welfare a priority as Zanu PF indaba begins

Kuda Bwititi

Political Editor

THE welfare of the people and state of the economy will be central to discussions at the ruling ZANU PF’s 21st National People’s Conference, which begins on Tuesday, while commemorations of the Anti-Sanctions Day will be sandwiched in between the busy schedule of the indaba, it has been learnt.

This year’s conference will be held under the theme “Industrialise and Modernise Towards the Attainment of Vision 2030”.

Although the full programme is being finalised, The Sunday Mail understands that proceedings will begin with the Politburo meeting on Tuesday, followed by the Central Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Both meetings are likely to be held at the party headquarters in Harare.

Delegates will then travel to Bulawayo on Thursday, with the official opening of the conference by the party’s First Secretary and President, Cde Mnangagwa, slated for Friday.

Thematic discussions on the state of the economy and that of the party will then follow until the closing ceremony on Saturday.

In an interview with The Sunday Mail, ZANU PF Secretary-General Dr Obert Mpofu said delegates at the conference should come up with resolutions “that will have a lasting positive impact on the economy, drawing from Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 1”.

“The draft programme for the conference is being finalised and will be availed soon. However, I may point out that the 21st ZANU PF National People’s Conference will be more focused on the state of the economy, the party and the welfare of the people,” he said.

“The conference offers the opportunity for the party to deliberate on key issues affecting our people. Thus, the conference will likely come up with resolutions aimed at ensuring that the needs of our people within every sector are met. The ruling party will ensure that the Government fully implements these resolutions for the benefit of our people.”

ZANU PF, Dr Mpofu said, ascribes to the principle that the party has supremacy over Government. This, he said, allows an oversight role in the implementation of Government projects.

“The party is the principal as it is the one that forms Government and thus comes up with resolutions that influence policy. It is this policy and resolutions set by the party that must be translated into actionable projects and programmes by Government acting on behalf of the party. As always, this philosophy will be galvanised by the conference through the crafting of resolutions that will influence policy, which Government must translate into projects and programmes for implementation with the goal of changing the lives of our people for the better through the attainment of His Excellency President Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030.”

He reiterated the party’s position that there will be relatively fewer delegates this year, as leaner numbers would lead to more focussed discussions.

“We expect a total of 4 396 party delegates to attend the conference. This is in line with His Excellency the President and First Secretary’s vision to have fewer delegates to come up with more meaningful deliberations,” added Dr Mpofu.

“We are taking the approach of having leaner delegates to allow for more fruitful and practical deliberations. Leaner delegations are the international gold standard as most conferences of this nature by similar political parties tend to have not more than 3 000 delegates. This will allow for a more focussed conference and enable people to attend to more pressing issues.”

Dr Mpofu said, according to the party’s tracker and implementation matrix, Government has done well in implementing the resolutions from last year’s conference.

Zimbabwe, he also said, is making notable strides in all sectors of the economy and society.

“We will ensure that we deliver a conference that everyone will remember. Bulawayo province is more than ready to host the entire nation for this year’s conference,” he added.

On Thursday, the party’s national chairperson Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri visited the venue of the conference, the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds, to conduct final checks and was satisfied with progress made.

Speaking to journalists soon after the tour, she said the conference’s thematic areas will address the state of the party and the economy.

“The state of the economy will touch on our preparedness for this season, the agricultural season. Then also it will touch on the mining area, just giving us an overview of where we are in terms of Vision 2030, where we are expecting now to have attained the US$12 billion mining economy,” she said.