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Zanu-PF Chairman: Mugabe Has Power to Appoint Vice President


President Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for more than 32 years and still has total control of his Zanu-PF party. (File Photo)
President Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for more than 32 years and still has total control of his Zanu-PF party. (File Photo)
Zanu-PF National Chairman Simon Khaya Moyo says the filling of the second vice presidential post at his party’s forthcoming 14th People’s Conference lies in the hands of President Robert Mugabe, the leader of the party and no-one else.

Speaking in Chinhoyi on Monday at the sidelines of the handover of conference facilities that will be used by Zanu-PF for the conference, Khaya Moyo said the president can use his powers enshrined in the party constitution to fill the post left vacant by John Nkomo’s death.

Zanu PF’s coordinating committee, led by the party’s political commissar Webster Shamu, handed the conference facilities to Moyo ahead of the conference. Khaya Moyo said people should not expect the vacant position to be filled at this month’s conference.

He says the party’s elective congress is set for next year.

According to Article 5 of the Zanu-PF Constitution, it is only the Congress that can elect the president and first secretary of the party, the two vice presidents, second secretaries and the national chairman.

Asked why it seemed the country’s constitution was being disregarded as Zanu-PF waits for its congress to elect a second vice president, Moyo said he had no authority to speak on government issues.

Moyo said the Zanu-PF conference this month will focus and strategise on how the country can ensure food security, social service, poverty eradication, infrastructure development, beneficiation and value addition, adding that Zimbabwe should try its best to add value to its raw materials.

On alleged divisions in the party, the Zanu-PF chairman called on party leaders and ordinary members to bury their differences and “move in harmony, in one direction” in the party’s quest to hold a successful conference.

The conference centre, a 7,000 seater facility, was built with the help of a South African company, GL Oasys Events.

Zanu-PF has kept the cost of the conference and source of funding under wraps though Chinhoyi University of Technology sources said Mbada Diamonds Company was involved in funding some, if not all, activities at the site.

The theme of the conference is “Growing the Economy for Empowerment and Employment”. It derived its theme from the party and government’s blueprint, Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET).

The conference starts December 12 and ends three days later. President Mugabe will officially open the conference on December 13. For entertainment, a gala will be held at the end of the conference as the party celebrates its July 31st election victory.
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