'Civil servants are Zanu-PF deployees'

Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Ellen Gwaradzimba has revealed that she is teaching and forcing government workers to chant Zanu-PF slogans because they are deployees of the ruling party.

She made the remarks on Friday in Mutare at a Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial co-ordination committee meeting.

The Zanu-PF leadership on Friday hosted various government departments to appraise them on the state of economic development in the province.

Addressing delegates, Gwaradzimba said she was grooming civil servants in the province to learn party slogans, claiming failure to do so would be decampaigning Zanu-PF

"Sorry, I am late because I was teaching government workers party slogans. I told them that they should do party slogans because they are serving a government led by Zanu-PF. I am grooming them to do party slogans," she said
"I told them that if they let us down, they will decampaigning Zanu-PF," she said

Several government heads of departments responded by chanting Zanu-PF slogans, among them the District Development Fund (DDF) provincial boss Robert Chawatama.

The meeting was attended by senior Zanu-PF members, including former Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa and Manicaland provincial chairperson Mike Madiro.

Gwaradzimba took the opportunity to apologise to the ruling party for her alleged self-centerdness.

The minister has been accused of not working in the best interests of the party.

"There have been rumours that I was doing only my things, but what I can say is there hasn't been communication between the government and Zanu-PF. I have never been a minister before; this is my first time, so I am still learning. The issue of communication has been addressed. I want to apologise to Zanu-PF as I do not know some of these things," she said.

Gwaradzimba added that she was working on addressing some challenges facing the province including water shortages.
Speaking at the same event, Madiro reiterated that government workers are deployees of Zanu-PF.

"This meeting is a Zanu-PF platform, we won elections and we have been winning elections. When we won the elections we had a manifesto we sold to the people of Zimbabwe, so these government workers have an agenda to implement Zanu-PF policies and as a party we are there to supervise," he said

"No government worker should say no and no one should say I am apolitical, if there is someone like that then he or she is in the wrong place, but as a ruling party we are not giving orders. Those in government are deployees of the party" he said.

Madiro warned party members not to engage in corrupt activities because they would be brought to book.