Zanu-PF secures Chinese funding

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has promised to secure funding and cars for Zanu-PF candidates, a few hours after senior politburo members were locked in a vicious clash over fundraising for the cash-strapped party.

Mugabe told a central committee meeting that money and vehicles would soon be distributed in provinces to accelerate the party's campaigns, although he did not say where the resources would come from since Zanu-PF is broke and has been surviving on bank overdrafts.

However, senior Zanu-PF officials told Zimbabwe Independent yesterday the money, expected in the country today, was sourced from "well-wishers" in China and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mugabe stressed the resources would not be adequate to cater for everyone but should be shared equally without favouritism.

Zanu-PF has been receiving donations from the Chinese who recently delivered graders and excavators, while Equatorial Guinea strongman Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo reportedly gave Mugabe about US$20 million for the presidential agricultural input scheme last year.