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Joseph Madzimure-Senior Reporter

ZANU PF has begun preparations for this year national elective congress set for October, the party’s Secretary for Information and Publicity, Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa, has said.

Speaking at a post-Politburo meeting at the party headquarters in Harare yesterday, Cde Mutsvangwa said the Party’s Secretary for Administration, Cde Obert Mpofu, gave a detailed report on the upcoming congress.

Ahead of the congress, both the Youth League and Women’s League have endorsed President Mnangagwa as the sole presidential candidate for the 2023 harmonised elections.

 “Already we have one candidate endorsed by various organs. We expect the same from the War Veterans League conference that they will endorse President Mnangagwa as the sole presidential candidate for the 2023 harmonised elections. This should go all the way until the party congress in October,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.

The Politburo, Cde Mutsvangwa added, also received a report on the successful Women’s League conference. 

He said preparations for the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle conference are going on well.

“The upcoming one is the War Veterans League conference which will come up very soon. The President has got an interim report which he is working on and further consultations are going on for the final structure of the veterans’ league. The veterans are the bedrock of the Zimbabwe revolutionary party.  

“We have been in the party in one way or the other, but now we are in the structure of the party. 

“We are very proud with our association with the party which has won Independence. 

“The war veterans are disciplined, they are visionaries and after all they are outstanding patriots,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.

“We are happy that we are very much attached to the party and we will be playing an important role once the organ is fully in place. 

“The aspects of it are being worked out and we expect that our conference will be as successful as the other two and then it will lead to the national elective congress, where we will reaffirm our mandate from the people”.

The Politburo also discussed at length the state of the economy. 

“We see the arrival of class investors in our mining sectors. Top steel mining companies across the globe are now in Zimbabwe, companies like Varun, the biggest bottler in the whole world are expanding their operations in the country,” Cde Mutsvangwa said.

 Zimbabwe, he said, is beginning to make its mark even in business publications.

“Here is a country which has got resources which are world class. They were being monopolised by post-colonial players. We discussed these issues in the Politburo because they change the GDP of the country. They change people’s lives. They bring back the diaspora, who bring the skills which they acquired over years in foreign countries. Now they are going to be absorbed back home because there are now economic activities,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.

 “We are also happy with our young people who are in the gold sector in a big way. We are now reorganising them so that they get proper support, get proper credit facilities, and marketing support. No more selling gold to smugglers.

“We also discussed issues of the local currency. Why would the currency behave differently when all other fundamentals of the economy are doing well?  That is an issue which is beginning to unravel because the business sector is beginning to police itself. Those who are parasites will soon be exposed by those who are working hard”.

The party, he said, is also geared for the by-elections for Gokwe Kabuyani constituency on August 27 this year.

The seat fell vacant after the death of Cde Leonard  Chikomba (Zanu-PF).