Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party has embarked on a begging bowl project aimed at raising funds for its annual national people’s conference set for the first week December.
Zanu PF secretary for finance, David Karimanzira says that the party was begging for funds that would enable it to hold a “fruitful people’s conference”
The party holds annual conferences every December and a congress after every five years where it seeks to chart the way forward given the avalanche of problems it is faced with as well as those affecting national development.
Close to 5 000 delegates will attend the conference set for Bindura between December 10 and 14, 2008.
“We have done fundraising through our provinces. But unfortunately, costs of products and services continues to rise. We continue to appeal to members of the party and well-wishers to kindly donate towards the cause of the national people’s conference so that we hold a fruitful conference,” said Karimanzira
He said at the moment, his party was not sure as to how big the begging bowl would be given the fact that there was a failure by the government, headed by Zanu PF politicians, to arrest the continued rise of costs of basic commodities and services.
“We still have not received quotations from service providers. Even if we are to get them today, there would be a serious change in the prices by the time we go for the conference because of inflation which will then push up the prices beyond our budgets,” he added.
On most occasions, Zanu PF has had to use its muscle on civil servants to donate towards some of its major functions but the trend has failed to materialize nowadays as most civil servants have resisted these moves as the cash they pocket in their earnings is inadequate to cater for their families alone, let alone donating towards a Zanu PF function
