Zanu PF conference set for Midlands

Sunday Mail Reporter

ZANU PF will this year hold its annual National People’s Conference in Gweru, Midlands province, on October 28 and 29, the party’s secretary for information and publicity Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa has said.

Addressing the media after yesterday’s 119th ordinary session of the ZANU PF Central Committee meeting held at the ruling party’s headquarters in Harare — Amb Mutsvangwa said the conference will be held at the party’s conference centre.

“We also discussed in-house issues; we are going to have our National People’s Conference… it is going to be held in Gweru,” he said.

“It is going to be held on the 28th and 29th this month at our conference centre, built by our Midlands province.”

Ambassador Mutsvangwa said the meeting also reviewed the party’s performance in the recent harmonised elections.

“The session took stock of the recent elections,” he said.

“We took stock of the performance of ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) and we said we are very proud of the maturity of the Zimbabwean Constitution as it endeavours to deliver democratic practice to the Zimbabwean people which was witnessed by the world.

“About 70 percent of the electorate turned up to vote and this shows that they are very alive to our democratic state, which we owe to the sacrifice of so many Zimbabwean souls.

“They see the duty to vote as homage to those who sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy which we enjoy today.”

He said the Central Committee congratulated the President on his victory and expressed satisfaction with the party’s overall performance.

“They were also looking at the 2028 general elections. A lot of recommendations were made and a lot of introspection was done by the party and delegates to say how do we perform better next time.

“Another aspect that came out was how the President made sure there was enough vigilance during elections to keep the machinations of our detractors at bay.

“There was a lot of which had been invested by the detractors.

“They put a lot of money and technical obstacles in our way to try and change the result and they wanted to counter us through the manipulation of technology.”

He said the party was satisfied with how the country’s security establishment safeguarded the integrity of the electoral processes.

“We want to hail our security services for the sterling job which they did and delegates took due note.”

The Central Committee, said Amb Mutsvangwa, was also appraised of the President’s recent tour of duty at the United Nations General Assembly.

He added: “We are thankful of our SADC peers.

“The President hailed the support from the various progressive countries in the world that stood by Zimbabwe and highlighted their support including through message of recognition and congratulations which came from the UN secretary-general.

“We are grateful that this body that represents the aspirations of common humanity has found that the election in Zimbabwe was free and reflective of the will of the Zimbabwean people.”