A GROUP allegedly linked to former Vice-President Joice Mujuru has produced a “work-in-progress” document detailing its plans and vision under her leadership.
BY XOLISANI NCUBE
The group was already seeking the input of all those interested in launching a fully-fledged political party.
Running as the Movement for People First, the group details its aspirations and thrust if they get into power underpinned by Mujuru’s recently published economic blueprint, Build, which seeks to establish a corrupt-free democratic society.
The document, which is signed off by Margaret Dongo as the leader of the team, states that the People First movement shall fight corruption at all levels especially in the police force through the adoption of policy to have women heading the country’s law enforcement agency and other key institutions.
“At People First, we hold corruption to be this country’s number one enemy, a fact which logically, therefore, makes us Zimbabweans our own worst enemies,” part of the document reads.
“Today, on levers of power are men with multiple farms, men who looted the Reserve Bank [of Zimbabwe] agricultural inputs . . . men who have corruptly acquired anything in their paths, tractors, scotch-carts, pencils and exercise books,” the document states.
Dongo, at the weekend, confirmed producing the document, saying it was work-in-progress for the People First movement.
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“It’s not coming from the party, but a pressure group within the People First that believes in the leadership of people like Mujuru. We are just putting something for them to see and generate fresh ideas from other interested stakeholders,” she said.
People First is largely made up of ex-Zanu PF members, who were kicked out of the party along with Mujuru on allegations of plotting to topple President Robert Mugabe and replace him with her.
However, Mujuru refused to discuss the document, referring all questions to Dongo.
“Ask her to explain. She is the one who has her name on it . . . How can I talk about something I don’t know?” she said.
In the document, People First outlines its vision for civil servants, stating that they must have “a sense of loyalty and discipline, including patriotism”.
“In terms of priorities, the economy comes third and we can only deal with it successfully once we have deflated corruption. The People First shall welcome economic partnership through foreign direct investment (FDI) to mutual benefit. But we have to be careful that we do not empower a few on behalf of the collective rest like we are witnessing now,” the document states.
“In the agricultural sector, greater emphasis will be on assisting small-scale farmers in training and marketing of their products. The so-called informal sector will be very much assisted into expanding their space, capacity and markets,” the group states.
Turning to employment creation, People First states that if they get into power, they shall endeavour to “embark on deliberate high value and massive infrastructural development projects to create, through FDI and local financing, immediate employment”.
