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Cletus Mushanawani in Victoria Falls
VICTORIA Falls has spruced up the town in readiness for the 15th Zanu-PF National People’s Conference which will be officially opened by the party’s First Secretary, President Mugabe today (Friday).
Colourful billboards dot the length and breadth of most major roads in the town welcoming an estimated 5 000 delegates from the country’s 10 provinces and foreign countries who are expected to be in attendance.
Economic issues are expected to top the agenda for the conference as Zimbabwe recently hosted Chinese President, Xi Jingping who together with President Mugabe witnessed the signing of major economic deals between Zimbabwe and China.
The major roads in the resort town where wild animals like wild pigs, baboons and monkeys freely mingle with people in broad daylight are pothole free and are clearly marked.
Even the Lord appeared to have blessed the conference as unlike other areas across the country where the heat-wave is wreaking havoc, some light showers have been experienced in Victoria Falls over the past week, with some drizzles being recorded on Wednesday to cool off the early morning heat.
By midweek delegates were trickling in with all major hotels and lodges already fully booked.
Residents were also cashing on the spill-overs by converting their houses into temporary lodges for fees ranging from $10 to $50 per head depending on the state of the room and bedding facilities.
At the conference venue, everything was in place, while accreditation of delegates and service providers was progressing well without any hassles.
Not to be outdone were taxi operators who are charging as much as $30 from the airport to the town, a distance of about 20km. Local routes are attracting a fare of not less than $5.
A taxi operator who also doubles up as an airtime vendor, Mr Artwell Ndlovu, described this year as one of the best in terms of business for the operators.
“We started the year very well with the 21st Movement celebrations and a number of activities and conferences have been held here this year.
“This conference will put the icing on the cake because business is very good.
“We want to thank Zanu-PF for choosing Victoria Falls as the venue for this year’s conference because it will promote local businesses here.
“At times we will be forced to hike our fares because of the brisk business we will be recording. The conference is also good in promoting domestic tourism because we know that some people will be visiting Victoria Falls for the first time and they will surely enjoy their stay here,” he said.
A food vendor, Ms Sibusisiwe Ncube, said from last week their sales were increasing by the day and were expecting to double up as the conference progresses.
“We are more than ready to welcome delegates to our beautiful town.
“We will be preparing all cuisines and delegates are assured of a stay to remember for a long time to come.
“To us, this is an early Christmas present and we want to say hats off to Zanu-PF and the organisers of this conference for choosing Victoria Falls.
“We will continue rallying behind Zanu-PF because it has proved that it has people at heart by affording us small-scale players to have a chance to market our local products especially food,” she said.
Online Reporter