The Stage Is Set For Zanu (PF) Conference

Party leaders have said they will use the conference to discuss the indigenization of mines and firms law, which observers have said is the party’s campaign trump card to attract young and and female voters.

The party’s national spokesperson Rugare Gumbo told the media that the national People’s Conference would start in earnest on Wednesday with President Robert Mugabe appearing at a tree planting function at a local high school.

“Everything is on course. On Wednesday the delegates will start arriving and at the same time, we will have tree planting at Milton High School with His Excellency (President Robert Mugabe). The conference will start on Thursday with some discussions on indigenization and agriculture and end on Saturday,” he said.

Bulawayo provincial chairman Isaac Dakamela said the host province was ready for the conference.

“We are ready. We are almost there and we are just running around collecting pledges and donations. We have even cleaned offices at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) where we will have different departments housed during the conference,” he said.

The party’s chairman, Simon Khaya Moyo, over the weekend told the state-owned weekly, The Sunday Mail, that the conference was crucial because it was the last before the envisaged harmonised elections next year.Khaya Moyo also said Zanu PF will use the conference to map out campaign strategies for the polls.

The conference’s theme is: ‘Defend National Sovereignty, Consolidate Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment.