‘Time to focus on economy’

Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Zanu-PF should “now free itself” from the election mood and concentrate on developmental issues contained in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset).A report on the state of the party tabled at the just-ended Zanu-PF national Women’s League conference indicated that the party elections have been so divisive and it was time that the revolutionary party moved on with projects aimed at building the party and the country.

Zanu-PF director in the commissariat Cde Munyaradzi Machacha, who was a rapporteur of a committee that looked at the state of the party, read out the resolutions before the full conference, after which they were consolidated in the main report.

Zanu-PF women’s league secretary for administration, Cde Flora Buka, later read the main report.

It was reported that each time there were either primary elections, polls to fill in vacant positions or restructuring exercises, the party was always left with a trail of destruction where members were pitted against each other on factional lines.

“It has been a huge plea from women that let’s have harmonised party elections from cell, branch, district and province for one year and we move out of the election mood the next five years where we concentrate on strengthening the party.

“We must not continue to be detained in an election mood because the more that happens the more we are divided,” said Cde Machacha while delivering the committee’s report.

“What came out was that in our party we have been divided. All the elections have left us divided, we are now into factions.”

It was also noted that young members of the party, some from MDC-T, were being admitted into the party before being catapulted into senior positions. The committee said this was the work of men who had a penchant to interfere with women issues for their selfish political agendas.

“Senior women members who have been in the party for long are being sidelined and frustrated by young ones who are just being hand-picked by powerful men. Some of the young women have no discipline as they have no respect for their seniors,” said Cde Machacha.

The women said if the trend went unchecked, most of them would be dislodged from their positions by influential men who sought to impose their “people.”

Some senior members of the party were by-passing district chair-ladies and gave instructions directly to the lower ranks and grassroots, something that was condemned.

On women thematic committee, a call was made that they be allowed to own land and other properties in their own right. This was presented by Cde Auxilia Mnangagwa, who said even in situations where a woman had land, she would lose it fraudulently once the husband passed on.

There was also a call for transparency for distribution of seed under the Presidential well-wishers scheme.