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President Mugabe

Nqobile Tshili Chronicle Correspondent
ZANU-PF Bulawayo province will host the Presidential Youth Interface Rally at White City Stadium in the last week of September, the party has said.

The province is targeting to raise about $50 000 for the event and wants to attract more than 50 000 people. Zanu-PF Youth League Bulawayo provincial chairperson Cde Anna Mokgohloa yesterday said the province has been given the green light to start mobilising resources ahead of the rally.

She said on Tuesday the provincial youth executive met organising members from the wing’s national leadership led by secretary for commissariat Cde Innocent Hamandishe to map the way forward.

“It was a meeting in which we were officially given permission to go ahead with preparations for the interface rally. We should now start mobilising resources, raising funds, organising entertainment, setting up the information and publicity committee which will be responsible for placing banners advertising the rally,” she said.

Cde Mokgohloa said White City Stadium has been identified as the venue for the event. “We’re going to be the ninth province after Mashonaland Central to host the Presidential Youth Interface Rally and our hope is that more people will come and interface with the President. White City Stadium will be the venue for the interface programme. Although the date has not been decided, we expect to have our interface during the last week of September,” she said.

Bulawayo, Midlands, Mashonaland Central and Harare province are the only provinces yet to host the Youth Presidential Interface Rally after successful hosting of the event in six provinces. The Midlands province will be the next host to the interface rally on September 3, with Mashonaland Central coming eighth.

The youths are using the interface meetings to interact with President Mugabe as well as articulate social, economic and political issues affecting them. Among other issues, the Youth League is advocating young people to have access to land, agricultural inputs and participate in mining activities.

Zanu-PF is also using the rallies to show its mobilisation prowess as each rally is being attended by huge crowds. This dovetails with findings by respected think tanks that President Mugabe and Zanu-PF’s approval ratings have been increasing in inverse proportion to those for the opposition.

The engagements are expected to run until October when the President would have visited all 10 provinces.