adminCletus Mushanawani in HARARE
PRESIDENT Mugabe said it was the duty of every Zanu-PF member to ensure that the party was kept intact.
Speaking at the extra-ordinary Central Committee meeting held at Zanu-PF Headquarters in Harare on Wednesday, President Mugabe said it was important to deliver on all party and Government programmes since their failures would affect ordinary people.
“We have a real task to fulfil and to ensure that the party is kept intact and that the objectives that we stand for are observed. If party and Government programmes fail, people will be affected and we will lose ground. We know that some aspects of the economy are not doing well, but there are some doing well, like agriculture,” he said.
He hailed party members for standing for the principles of the party when some elements tried to hijack it.
“Standing in unity against subversive elements will see us defeating the enemy. We should know that those who are in office today will not be there in future, but we should respect them because they are the leaders today. There are many others who wanted to be in the Central Committee. Many others wanted to be in the Politburo, but we cannot have everyone in the Politburo.
“We should now face the challenges facing the nation especially the economy,” said President Mugabe.
On some people who were hoodwinked to follow ousted Vice-President Cde Joice Mujuru, President Mugabe said: “Some were trapped easily. Vakawanda vakanyeperwa vakaitwa win over. Vamwe vakazviona mavamumashure, vamwe vakaenda hook, line and sinker. It was terrible, terrible and I didn’t know she was like that.”
He said they should be wary of people who want to physically harm them.
“Cde Mnangagwa’s office was broken into yesterday (Tuesday) night and poisonous stuff (cyanide) was sprinkled into it. The person who opened it got terribly affected and is in hospital now.
“Ko pamusana pei, chatatadza chii, why, why? Anywhere we will have investigations done. It is not always those who smile at us that we are friends with. We should take care,” said President Mugabe.
On the restructured Politburo structure, President Mugabe said it was done to reduce the top heaviness of the party.
Before the recent Zanu-PF constitutional amendment, the Presidium was made up of the President, two vice-presidents and national chairman.
Under the new structure, the chairman’s post was abolished.
“The two VPs have no real big functions except that they are my deputies. I can get them work to do. We felt it was not necessary to have the chairmanship. We have also reduced the departments in the Politburo,” he said.
President Mugabe said it was important for the party to have a proper database of its members.
“We should organise our other organs. We should ensure that we have the people on the ground and that we know them. If new people come they should be registered. We do not want a situation where from year to year we do not have real knowledge of the people we have. We want regular reports from the provinces. Provinces should respect the constitutional mandate of meeting once every month.
“Provinces should also ensure that districts meet regularly and make reports to the provinces for onward forwarding to us.
“We are in the driving seat and we should drive and not to use the party headquarters to plot to destroy the party. We should be vigilant at the top,” said President Mugabe.
Online Reporter