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Bulawayo Bureau
ZANU-PF Politburo has set December 10 to 15 as the dates for the ruling party’s 17th Annual National People’s Conference to be held in Esigodini, Matabeleland South province.

The conference was initially slated for Gwanda before the Politburo, at its 321 Ordinary Session, resolved that the event should be shifted to Umzingwane Boys’ High School in Esigodini for accommodation purposes, as the venue was nearer to Bulawayo.

In an interview yesterday, the ruling party’s spokesperson, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo, said the dates for the annual indaba were approved by Zanu-PF’s supreme decision-making body, the Politburo, during its meeting last week.

The conference, whose theme is “Zimbabwe is Open for Business: In unity and peace towards an upper middle-income economy by 2030”, is expected to attract 5 000 delegates drawn from the country’s 10 provinces.

Cde Khaya Moyo said the preparations for the conference were on course.

“Preparations are going on extremely well,” he said.

“The conference is earmarked for December 10 to 15, 2018. There will be a Politburo meeting on Monday, the 10th of December and a Central Committee meeting on Wednesday the 12th of December 2018. Thursday, the 13th of December will be travelling and verification of delegates and then, of course, that is when there will also be tree planting and health and environmental activities at the venue.”

Cde Khaya Moyo said President Mnangagwa, who is also the ruling party’s First Secretary, will officially open the conference on Friday, December 14 and it will run until December 15.

“The conference proper starts on Friday the 14th and of course finishing on the 15th of December with the delegates returning to their respective places on the 16th.”

Cde Khaya Moyo said the party had activated its sub-committees, which are working tirelessly with other key stakeholders in preparation for the annual indaba.

“We are happy that the conference comes after a very successful outcome of the harmonised elections which we thunderously won,” he said.