By Own Correspondent| President Emmerson Mnangagwa will this Friday make history as he officiates at the 17th Zanu-PF Annual National People’s Conference.

The conference is the first to be officiated by Mnangagwa in his capacity as First Secretary and President following his election at the party’s Extraordinary Congress in Harare last year.

The first ever National People’s conference without his predecessor former president Robert Mugabe at the helm of power, roars into life today with preparations for the event at Umzingwane High School, Esigodini, venue of the conference, ending today.

At the last conference, Zanu Pf stalwarts fell over themselves pledging allegiance to Mugabe with some of them saying Mugabe would rule for life.

Following the November 2017 coup, the same Zanu Pf heavy weights are on record repeating the same rhetoric declaring Mnangagwa as their 2023 presidential candidate.

Themed “Zimbabwe Is Open for Business: Peace, unity towards an Upper Middle-Income Economy by 2030”, the conference runs until December 15.