FIRST Lady Grace Mugabe yesterday snubbed the 2016 inaugural Bulawayo ZimAsset stakeholders’ conference aimed at “demystifying” the government economic blueprint due to “certain programmes”.
BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
Grace was billed to make a keynote address and officially open the conference.
According to Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko, Grace failed to turn up due to clashing programmes.
“Let’s come up with resolutions for our First Lady. She was supposed to be here with us, but, unfortunately, programmes of elders don’t end, and as such, she did not come,” he said in an address.
But according to officials, Grace was yesterday set to accompany President Robert Mugabe to Papua New Guinea to attend the 8th Summit of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), which begins next week.
According to reports, Mugabe, who was scheduled to leave for the summit last night, was the only Head of State attending the event to be held between Tuesday and Wednesday next week, with 79 countries said to have confirmed their participation.
Fifty heads of delegations were expected — including one president (Mugabe), four vice-presidents, 13 prime ministers, one deputy prime minister, one speaker of a national parliament, 14 ministers and 16 ambassadors.
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Meanwhile, in a speech read on her behalf by Bulawayo Provincial Affairs minister Eunice Sandi-Moyo, Grace said Bulawayo should not be allowed to “die”.
“Success of ZimAsset lies in national effort and it should not be left alone to government. Public and private sectors should come together to foster its outcome. Bulawayo is a think-tank and it should not be allowed to die,” she said.
Grace said it was important for the country to always take stock of what could have happened in the past for transparency and accountability purposes. She said the city was poised for growth, given that the private and public sectors were working together for a common cause.
She said a functioning railway was key to transforming Bulawayo and the region, adding the city was not spared from economic sanctions, corruption and de-industrialisation.
Grace welcomed the move by government to declare Bulawayo a special economic zone, adding that would stimulate economic growth in the city.
