News / Local
Zapu resumes congress preps
28 Jan 2016 at 11:26hrs | Views
The cash-strapped Zapu, which last year postponed its elective congress twice, is now making frantic efforts to ensure that it is held this year.
Funding proved to be the greatest impediment to the staging of the congress last year, with party organisers in sixes and sevens over how to bankroll the indaba to elect a new leadership.
The last Zapu elective congress was held in August 2010 at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds, soon after its purported breakaway from the ruling Zanu-PF.
The party's special indaba initially was supposed to have been held in August last year and had to be postponed to December. But Zapu failed to raise the US$200 000 required to stage the meeting and subsequently cancelled the indaba after raising only US$80 000.
Zapu's alternate secretary-general Strike Mkandla told the Financial Gazette this week that the party had not yet given up on the congress and was confident that it would be held this year without fail.
"We have a positive picture as we have re-organised our structures to focus on the congress and as we speak we now have standing teams," he said, adding: "Preparations have already started and the National People's Council will be meeting in March to review progress on the preparations after which dates would be decided."
Mkandla said their members had tried their best last year to help fund the congress, but the economic difficulties the country is facing had heavily weighed down their efforts.
A mooted alternative to cut costs is having some of the congress activities done at provincial level and thereby reducing the number of persons that have to travel to the congress venue.
"We are also looking at the venue because it will also have distance implications on some of the delegates," said Mkandla, who added that the congress budget could not be altered because it reflected costs on the ground. The party is also appealing to members for donations in kind.
The party also said its preparation for the conference was running concurrently with groundwork for the 2018 general elections.
Meanwhile, party leader, Dumiso Dabengwa is largely tipped to retain control of the party after provinces last month endorsed him for the post of party president, ahead of many potential challengers.
Three senior members, Mkandla, the secretary general, Ralph Mguni and little known United Kingdom-based Thulani Nkala, had indicated their intention to contest for the party's top job.
Funding proved to be the greatest impediment to the staging of the congress last year, with party organisers in sixes and sevens over how to bankroll the indaba to elect a new leadership.
The last Zapu elective congress was held in August 2010 at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds, soon after its purported breakaway from the ruling Zanu-PF.
The party's special indaba initially was supposed to have been held in August last year and had to be postponed to December. But Zapu failed to raise the US$200 000 required to stage the meeting and subsequently cancelled the indaba after raising only US$80 000.
Zapu's alternate secretary-general Strike Mkandla told the Financial Gazette this week that the party had not yet given up on the congress and was confident that it would be held this year without fail.
"We have a positive picture as we have re-organised our structures to focus on the congress and as we speak we now have standing teams," he said, adding: "Preparations have already started and the National People's Council will be meeting in March to review progress on the preparations after which dates would be decided."
Mkandla said their members had tried their best last year to help fund the congress, but the economic difficulties the country is facing had heavily weighed down their efforts.
A mooted alternative to cut costs is having some of the congress activities done at provincial level and thereby reducing the number of persons that have to travel to the congress venue.
"We are also looking at the venue because it will also have distance implications on some of the delegates," said Mkandla, who added that the congress budget could not be altered because it reflected costs on the ground. The party is also appealing to members for donations in kind.
The party also said its preparation for the conference was running concurrently with groundwork for the 2018 general elections.
Meanwhile, party leader, Dumiso Dabengwa is largely tipped to retain control of the party after provinces last month endorsed him for the post of party president, ahead of many potential challengers.
Three senior members, Mkandla, the secretary general, Ralph Mguni and little known United Kingdom-based Thulani Nkala, had indicated their intention to contest for the party's top job.
Source - fingaz
