By Zachary Gava
Harare, (New Ziana) – Zanu PF is targeting a US$6 million haul from a presidential fundraising dinner, with the money expected to supplement resources already being mobilized for the party’s 23rd National People’s Conference scheduled for Chinhoyi from October 12 to 17.
The dinner is being organized separately from the conference’s existing fundraising and budgetary arrangements, meaning the US$6 million target represents an additional resource mobilisation drive aimed at strengthening preparations for the national gathering.
Zanu PF National Resource Mobilisation Committee chairperson, Philip Chiyangwa, speaking at a press conference on Friday, said there was already significant interest from the business community, with some corporates expected to make substantial contributions.
“We put a figure of $6 million as the target for the dinner,” Chiyangwa said.
He said the fundraising event would bring together businesspeople and other stakeholders who would have an opportunity to interact with President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“We want to offer the opportunity to everybody, to come to the table and be with the President, talk about what they wish for,” he said.
Chiyangwa said contributions from the business community were important in ensuring that the party had the resources to operate effectively.
“We want to ensure that our party machinery is functioning very well,” he said, urging businesses to contribute generously towards the initiative.
The latest drive comes as preparations for the Chinhoyi conference enter their final stages.
The conference, to be held at Chinhoyi University of Technology, is scheduled for October 12-17 under the theme “From Resolutions to Results: Consolidating Economic Development and Deepening Economic Empowerment Towards Vision 2030”
Zanu PF has already been mobilizing resources through provincial structures.
Earlier fundraising efforts in Mashonaland West, for instance, raised more than US$500 000 against a US$300 000 target, demonstrating the scale of financial mobilisation already underway for the conference.
Zanu PF Secretary for Information and Publicity, Christopher Mutsvangwa linked the latest fundraising initiative to the party’s engagement with the business sector, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Mutsvangwa said the party had seen strong participation from SMEs, and argued that their contribution to the economy made their engagement with political and economic structures important.
He said the SME sector accounted for what he described as 60 to 70 percent of the economy, adding that the party wanted to harness the goodwill shown by businesspeople to strengthen its organisational machinery.
“These are the people who are voting for the President with their goodwill and now we want to turn that goodwill to support for the party so that we can make the party machinery more attuned to the challenges which are being faced by the economy,” Mutsvangwa said.
He also described the relationship between business and politics as important to creating an environment conducive to investment and economic activity.
“This symbiotic relationship between business and politics, it is the one which makes the economy tick, so that it can continue to deliver on the prosperity which is the basis upon which ZANU-PF wants to rule this country,” he said.
The US$6 million presidential dinner target therefore adds another layer to the party’s ongoing mobilisation of resources ahead of the Chinhoyi gathering, with Chiyangwa saying further details on the venue, tables and contributions would be announced as preparations progress.
New Ziana
