from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Bureau
HARARE, (CAJ News) – ZIMBABWE’S ruling party will rubberstamp the candidature of incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa as its contender, for a second term, for next year’s elections when it holds its congress this week.
The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), in power since independence in 1980, will hold its summit from Wednesday to Saturday in the capital, Harare.
Elected head of state in 2018 and leader of the party a year earlier, Mnangagwa is to officially open the summit, dubbed the National People’s Congress.
Tafadzwa Mugwadi, ZANU-PF Director of Information, said the unanimous endorsement of Mnangagwa was a clear sign the party would emerge victorious in the 2023 crucial elections.
“All the three organs of the party have endorsed the indisputable candidature of President Mnangagwa as the sole candidate ahead of the harmonised elections penciled for 2023,” said Mugwadi.
The congress brings together the liberation movement’s think-tankers, drawn from all wings comprising the National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), ZANU-PF Youth League and Women’s League from all the country’s ten provinces.
ZANU-PF has invited its key Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional allies.
These comprise the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Burundi’s National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (BNCDD), Front for Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), Malawi Congress Party (MCP), Namibia’s South-West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Tanzania).
Internationally, the Communist Party of China (CPC), Communist Party of Cuba, December 12 Movement (the United States) and the Russia Conservative Party have confirmed their solidarity presence.
The ZANU-PF congress has also attracted key allies from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) bloc.
The conference coincides with the united call by the continent for the removal of sanctions slapped on Zimbabwe by the United States and the West at the turn of the millennium.
In the elections in 2023, ZANU-PF is likely to face the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) as its main challenger.
– CAJ News
