Zvamaida Murwira
Senior Reporter
Government Ministries, departments and agencies must act with urgency to implement agreed ZANU PF resolutions and decisions, while party structures should draw up timelines and establish monitoring and evaluation systems, the revolutionary party’s First Secretary, President Mnangagwa, has said.
The President said this in his closing remarks of the 23rd National People’s Conference on Saturday evening in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West Province, marking the end of an eventful week.
“The Resolutions adopted at this 23rd National People’s Conference require programmes and projects with measurable outcomes at grassroots level,” said President Mnangagwa.
“As we return to our respective provinces and party structures, obligatory implementation timelines should be established along with monitoring and evaluation systems. Likewise, challenges and gaps that arise, must be promptly addressed.
“Meanwhile, Government ministries, departments and agencies should remain aligned with party policies and act with greater urgency in implementing agreed conference resolutions and decisions. Synergy, collaboration and a Whole-of-Society approach, including the involvement of traditional leaders, should now be the norm. Our people, sector by sector, should be motivated to work harder towards attaining a higher quality of life and sustainable socio-economic development.”
Turning to the state of the party, President Mnangagwa said ZANU PF remained united.
“The message from this conference is unequivocal, ZANU PF is united, unshakable and focused towards the supreme goal of wholehearted service to the people of Zimbabwe and realising Vision 2030. ZANU PF inzou inoramba ichifamba, ichingofamba,” said President Mnangagwa.
“Conference echoed our enduring commitment to entrench the party’s founding values, ideological clarity and revolutionary resolve, as building blocks upon which our movement deepens people-centred governance.”
He reiterated unassailable unity in the party in an interview with journalists soon after the conference, adding that while there might be some isolated incidents of contradictions, the party remained solid.
He said it was normal to have a few people failing to toe the party line, but that would not distract the party from its collective trajectory.
“The party is united. In any movement, you have people who divert from the centre of the party, that is expected, but overall the party is united,” the President said.
“If you have a party, from January to December and you find no dissenting voice in that party, something is wrong.
“If you have a situation where everybody agrees with everything, something is wrong. We should have a situation where we have divergent views, but at the end of the day we agree on a common trajectory, this is what we have achieved.”
In his address to delegates, President Mnangagwa said the conference had taken stock of both the party and the economy.
“The conference successfully examined the state of our party and other sectors of the economy and society as a whole,” he said.
“The resolutions have carefully outlined programmes and policies etc, to be implemented and challenges requiring attention to propel prosperity for all.
“Collectively, we also reaffirmed the centrality of our national vision as well as shared responsibility, patriotism, loyalty, discipline, and hard, honest work”.
He implored party cadres to create a conducive environment that encourages more people to join ZANU PF.
“Let us also maintain an open-door policy to harness the diverse inputs from all stakeholders across society,” said President Mnangagwa.
“The important feedback from stakeholders, such as our grassroot communities, religious leaders, academia, industrialists, farmers, SMEs, and entrepreneurship, should continue to help strengthen as well as sharpen our colossal revolutionary organisation.”
“United we stand, divided we fall; unity is indispensable to our continued success. ZANU PF is supreme. Conference delegates and party members should always preach peace, unity, production and productivity.”
He commended structures for playing their respective roles to ensure a successful conference.
“Our actions have shown that no one owns the revolution; ZANU PF is an enormous, mass party. Together, delegates, party members and well-wishers alike, we are demonstrating that the DNA of our party is imprinted on both present and future generations, in perpetuity,” he said.
“This 23rd National People’s Conference has, therefore, marked a turning point in our party’s history. We are decisively moving from promises to performance, declarations to delivery and Resolutions to Results”.
“ZANU PF yaita chisungo kuno, kuMashonaland West Province, kuti budiriro yataona pasi peSecond Republic, iri kuenderera mberi.
“Ticharamba tichikoshesa kusimudzirwa kwevechidiki, madzimai, neavo vanoita mabasa emaoko akasiyana-siyana.”
Earlier on, the conference adopted several resolutions chief among them was to hold the party’s elective Congress in 2029, initially slated for 2027.
It was also resolved that the party’s sole candidate was President Mnangagwa. The conference resolved to amend the party Constitution to be in sync with the national Constitution in line with the constitutional reforms which saw the promulgation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Act Number Three
The Act extended the country’s harmonised election cycle from five to seven years, conferred Parliament with the right to elect the President, among other reforms.
The Conference started on Tuesday with a Politburo and Central Committee meeting held in Harare before holding the full Conference in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West Province on Friday and Saturday.
