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“Throughout history Zapu survived on subscriptions to pay its salaries and other expenses. Mina vele ngiyisilima ekuceleni, angisoze ngiyecela ngoba umama wangifundisa ukungaceli. Labo abathi upresident uzahamba ayecela angisoze ngikwenze lokho. (I am not going to beg on behalf of the party because I am not good at it),” said Mr Dabengwa.
He appealed to supporters to be united and save the party from sinking.
“This is your last chance to get what you want to get, go and tell others and be united for the cause of the party. The offices we had were closed because we could not pay and now we are trying to get an alternative place. We hope by next week we would have secured some place although it will be small. This is the little money we are talking about, if we were supporting our party we could not have lost our offices because no organisation can survive without money,” said Mr Dabengwa.
He said lack of funds had affected operations and day-to-day programmes of the party.
The party is without offices following a High Court order by Justice Nicholas Ndou last month ordering its eviction from the premises it was renting.
Zapu owes the owner of the property, Mr Edson Chemhere Mabudapasi, about $15 000 and Justice Ndou ordered auctioning of property to recover the money.
“We have been getting money from some supporters but subscriptions have not been coming in the way they should come. What we are doing now is try and get provinces organise members so that they start paying up,” said Mr Dabengwa.
He said despite the growth in the number of membership, there have been complaints about visibility of the party as it was failing to reach out to its supporters because of financial constraints.
“One of the challenges has been visibility because we did not have the means to visit supporters.
We have difficulties with transport for rallies in rural areas,” he said.
The president of the party’s women league, Mrs Jenea Nyambe, said women were ready to challenge for positions.
“Our aim is to take over seats as women. We are ready as a party and have many women who are capable of contesting and all we are calling for is for women to be given a chance,” she said.
Online Reporter