daniel chigunwe
Joseph Madzimure
Senior Reporter
Zanu PF will today hold a listening conference in Mutare meant to deliberate on how to accelerate and achieve sustainable economic growth for the betterment of the people, with Politburo members and Government ministers expected to attend.
The meeting will be the second, after the inaugural one was held in Harare last month.
The objective of the all stakeholders meetings is to provide an opportunity to entrepreneurs, professionals and thought leaders to air their views and thoughts of the best possible way forward to achieve sustainable economic growth.
The conference is meant to create a platform where various stakeholders can interface with the party leadership on issues affecting the economy.
The meeting is expected to start at 9am at Golden Peacock Hotel, with the intervention being meant to get and assess the situation on the ground.
Zanu PF national Political Commissar Cde Mike Bimha, who is spearheading the programme, said the conference was meant to provide an opportunity for officials to listen to public views on how to accelerate and achieve sustainable economic growth.
During the process, he said, the stakeholders will contribute, while the party leadership listen and take notes on their views.
The contributions will then be forwarded to the party principals.
“The stakeholders’ conference will create a platform where various stakeholders will interface with the party,” said Cde Bimha.
“We want to create a platform where various stakeholders can interface with the party, with the party listening to views from contributions from various stakeholders.
“It could be groupings, professionals, churches, business organisations. Remember will held the first meeting in Harare which was fully subscribed. Mutare is our second leg.’’
Cde Bimha said the party leadership will not be debating with the stakeholders, but will only get their views.
“When we have this listening party meetings; we are not debating; we are not offering solutions,” he said. “We are only there to listen to the views of the various stakeholders. After the meeting, we will put all the contributions together and then we will be able to present these to our principals. Some of these contributions will obviously find their way into Government.
“As the ruling party, we have an obligation to influence policy, to influence what Government then implements. We can only do so if we are in touch with people.”
The intervention, said Cde Bimha, was to get and assess what was on the ground.
“The intervention is for us to be able to get what is on the ground,” he said. “To listen to the various stakeholders and be able to make sense out of their contributions.
“We have invited people from the business sector, mining, tourism, agriculture, manufacturing. Most of them also hold senior position in various business organisations.”
The meetings will cascade to other areas across the country.
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