State Media|ALL is set for the 18th Zanu-PF Annual National People’s Conference, which starts tomorrow with about 10 000 people expected to attend, a senior party official said yesterday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Zanu-PF meeting at the Bulawayo Polytechnic, the party’s Secretary for Administration Dr Obert Mpofu said the party has mobilised enough resources to cater for the delegates.
“We are almost 100 percent done and all is now set for the conference. We were expecting 5 000 delegates, but then we have got other stakeholders who have been so overwhelmingly keen to attend the meeting and that has actually spiralled the number to almost 10 000. In fact, 5 000 of those are observers who will just attend the opening session, but our delegates will remain,” he said.
The conference runs from tommorow until December 15 at Goromonzi High School in Mashonaland East.
Dr Mpofu said the party was flooded with requests from representatives of various sectors of the economy interested in attending the conference.
“There has been overwhelming requests from all sectors of the economy throughout the country as people want to attend the conference. It is unprecedented because we haven’t had this kind of interest before, but this time all sectors have asked to be accommodated in the opening of the meeting. We are also ready with resources to cater for all the people who will be attending and we would not disappoint as usual,” he said.
Dr Mpofu said top on the agenda at the indaba will be the state of the party and the prevailing economic challenges.
Cabinet Ministers have been invited to give updates on the progress made in the journey to achieve a prosperous society in 11 years’ time. Government’s Vision 2030 is premised on establishing an upper-middle income society, which implies growing the country’s gross domestic product from an estimated US$25 billion last year to US$65 billion in 2030.
“We are going to focus on bread and butter issues and top on the agenda is the issue of the economy and the challenges that the country is facing, which people are concerned about and those will be addressed by Ministers, heads of departments in the party. We have thematic committees that will specifically address issues that would have been raised by the conference as well as by the party,” he said.
Delegates are expected to travel to the venue on Thursday, with proceedings expected to begin in earnest on the next day.
Dr Mpofu said delegates will break into select committees where resolutions will be drawn on the deliverables that people expect in the coming year.
He said the conference would consolidate national efforts towards reviving the economy, a marked departure from the previous regime when political issues took centre stage.
Some of the key issues on the agenda include devolution, food security, social services, macro-economic stability, inclusive growth, infrastructure development, as well as value-addition and beneficiation. In line with President Mnangagwa’s enunciation that in the Second Republic the party has supremacy over Government, Zanu-PF is expected to come up with key economic decisions to be tabled before Government for implementation.