Mugabe lashes out at 'inept' Zanu-PF leadership

Zanu-PF leader and First Secretary, Robert Mugabe has comedown hard on party leaders for failing to properly organise the Zanu-PF Youth League conference underway in Harare.

He said he received reports that there was no food for guests because the league had no money.

He said he and the First Lady, Grace Mugabe, has made provisions for food for the thousands of youths and party officials who are attending the conference.

President Mugabe said the First Family will provide mealie-meal, beasts and breakfast provisions for the youth conference.

He had no kind words for the Central Committee and Politburo members.

"When it comes to Congress don't cry... I can not have a Central Committee, or even a Politburo that is inept, No, some of us have come from far. We know what we were doing all the time. Our people are generous people. You can't tell me our people can not donate even a cent for this congress.

"Anyway, that is a talk...we shall look at the matter ourselves as leaders. People are just concentrating on power... useless camps... But where does the power come from? It comes from these people!

"So I would like to apologise for the inconveniences. Conduct yourselves well. I just don't want what has happened. So we will work together with Sikhosana and create a committee to look into the conference welfare."

The youths chanted, "Long live Gushungo!"

Earlier, Mugabe said he was aware of "the clandestine organisations, the activities going on in the party" describing them as "filthy."

"They destroy the party. And people pretend we don't know what is happening. Zvipfukuto eheee. (Weevils, yes). Ndakanzwa kuti mumwe akati tozvitsvagira gammaox (I head someone said let's spray them with gammatox)," he said.

The President said the leadership of the party should not want to run the organs that have been given leaders.

"Or to try and regiment them, or move them into a direction of our liking, especially when it comes now to ambition... The ambition to get to top posts," he said.

He added, "We must have freedom to express our ideas and we must not be inhibited from expressing our ideas. How much freedom do we, the leaders, allow our youths to have in giving their own views? Performing in accordance with what they believe is good for them, is progressive, is constructive and naturally is rewarding to them?"

He urged the government to plan towards economic revival through value addition and beneficiation.

"All this provision of skill - education - all the performance we require, the operations that are necessary to get wealth from agriculture, mining and add value, industry, must be effectively operated. We must have plans and plan properly."

He said, "We need agronomists, mining engineers, meteorologists, geologists, and technicians in that area. We need also not only to produce raw materials, but to add value to them - beneficiation. Hence, we must have mastery of the functioning of equipment - mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and with the greater sophistication there is nowadays, computer engineering, the whole area of ICTs."

The conference is being attended by thousands of youths from all the country's provinces. The youths have since endorsed the call by the Women's League to have the First Lady, Grace Mugabe as Secretary for Women's Affairs in the Politburo.