'Name varsity after Mugabe'

THE country should have a university named after President Mugabe for his outstanding work, not only for Zimbabwe, but Africa at large, a senior Zanu-PF official has said.

Giving closing remarks at a Zanu-PF extra-ordinary provincial co-ordination committee meeting held at Mutare Polytechnic last Saturday, Minister of Presidential Affairs as well as national secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, said President Mugabe deserves the special honour of having a university named after him.

"We should have a university named after President Mugabe. Although we have a Robert Mugabe School of Intelligence, this is not enough. We should honour our founding father President Mugabe for his outstanding contribution to this nation.

"A university to be named after President Mugabe and the long-awaited Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology must be pushed with the urgency they deserve. We must have a culture of honouring our heroes while still alive," said Mutasa.

He said it was naive for anyone in the party to harbour thoughts of contesting President Mugabe for the leadership of the revolutionary party.

"President Mugabe is our sole candidate for the party's leadership position. No one can stand up against President Mugabe. What kind of a child will you be to stand up against your own father? It is unheard of.

"Unity should start with us leaders. If we are not united, we will be dividing the party and Zimbabweans at large. We hear some people saying they belong to Mutasa and Muchinguri camps. We should not use leaders' names for selfish gains.

"As leaders we should ensure that whatever we discuss during our Politburo meetings should cascade down to the grassroots. We should remember that the December congress is a people's congress and not for Politburo members only," said Mutasa.

Provincial Zanu-PF chairman Ambassador John Shumba Mvundura also spoke on the importance of unity in the party.

"We should be united as a province and this should also be reflected when we go to the National People's Congress in Harare in December. We should work together as a united front because it is said charity begins at home. Our meeting today was a special one because everything from the beginning went on as planned.

"The most important thing during our discussion was our unanimous agreement that President Mugabe should be the sole candidate for the party's presidency. It is an open secret that President Mugabe is the best candidate for that position," he said.

Ambassador Mvundura could not shed much light on some of the resolutions they had agreed on as a province, but said most of them revolved around the four clusters of Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation.

On the issue of Mutasa taking up the national chairmanship, Mvundura said he would consult the party's leadership on that and if given the nod he would campaign for that post.

"I always tell people that I did not join Zanu-PF to get positions, but it is the people who second me to those leadership positions.

"I have a record of helping people and before accepting any nomination I will consult my leadership and if given the nod to campaign I will go ahead," he said.