Zanu PF will tomorrow launch its election manifesto, signalling the beginning of its election campaign ahead of this year’s polls.
BY XOLISANI NCUBE
In a circular from the department of administration headed by Obert Mpofu, the party has invited its senatorial, parliamentary, provincial and local council candidates as well as traditional leaders among other groups to attend the launch in Harare.
“The letter serves to advise that the Zanu PF 2018 harmonised elections manifesto campaign launch will take place on May 4, 2018 and at the Harare International Conference Centre,” the circular from the department read.
It is, however, the invitation of traditional leaders to the launch that has rattled opposition parties, as they have often accused chiefs of playing partisan politics in violation of the country’s Constitution.
The Zanu PF manifesto launch comes as the party undertook a leadership change in November last year, which saw President Emmerson Mnangagwa taking over from his predecessor, Robert Mugabe after a military intervention.
In 2013, Zanu PF promised to create 2,2 million jobs in five years and a trillion-dollar economy, among other things and they have not achieved any of that although they have postured that they have created more than two million jobs.
The manifesto, themed Indigenise, Empower, Develop and Create Employment, outlined 22 key goals, that were set to define the party’s policies over the last five years.
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But five years on, the opposition says the 108-paged booklet launched at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, Harare, proved meaningless, as the economy took a nose dive, with unemployment rising, while vending was now the order of the day in urban areas.
Zanu PF had hoped to drive the country’s economy through the economic empowerment law, but the policy became the source of attrition within the party and the Mnangagwa administration has moved to amend it, as it was identified as one of the impediments to economic recovery.
Zanu PF faces stiff competition from MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa and other political players.
