Zanu-PF an obscene jamboree

Former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai's main opposition MDC has described this week's Zanu-PF conference as nothing more than a platform for overfed elites in the ruling party to wine and dine some more - while the country's suffering majority continues to wallow in abject poverty.

Spokesperson Obert Gutu also told the Daily News yesterday that hoping for President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF to come up with solutions to the country's myriad problems, including the collapsing economy which had been spawned by the ruling party's "disastrous policies" was expecting too much.

"The Zanu-PF annual conference in Victoria Falls this week, as usual, will be an occasion to feast, drink and dance."It's just another jamboree of obscene extravagance for the ruling elite amidst a sea of grinding poverty for the majority of Zimbabweans.

Nothing concrete or tangible will come out of this Zanu-PF end-of-year party," Gutu said derisively.

"The economy will continue to implode in the coming year because the Zanu-PF regime is utterly clueless regarding what, precisely, should be done to arrest the economic haemorrhage.

"Zanu-PF is now irreparably damaged because of its endless and mindless factionalism. That party now belongs to the archives of history and has become yesterday's party.

"The only solution to the deepening political and socio-economic crisis in Zimbabwe is to have Zanu-PF out of power. Nothing short of this will do," Gutu added.

At the same time, Zanu-PF insiders told the Daily News yesterday that there were growing fears that the conference could degenerate into chaos, and that much-needed discussions centering on the country's imploding economy would take a backseat while the party's warring senior officials slugged it out in Victoria Falls.

One of the sources said there was talk that about 250 youths and war veterans had allegedly been mobilised to embarrass embattled Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa at the increasingly-important get-together.

However, allies of the VP nicknamed "Ngwena" (crocodile) - supposedly because of his legendary cunning and ruthlessness - told the Daily News last night that they were ready for the battle for the soul of the post-congress Zanu-PF.

But Zanu-PF spokesperson, Simon Khaya-Moyo, said the agenda of the party's conference and the deliberations that would ensue were set to transform the lives of the country's have-nots.

"You are aware that ZimAsset shall be our cornerstone at the national people's conference. We are hopeful that at the end of the conference everyone will be clear on its implementation.

"We shall be assessing and exchanging views on how best we can implement the ZimAsset clusters so that we really concentrate on improving the quality of lives of our people," Moyo said earlier this week.