ZANU PF will donate thousands of dollars worth of campaign
regalia and posters bearing the image of former president Robert Mugabe and his
wife Grace to orphanages, it has emerged.
Zanu PF had reportedly ordered at least 12 000
paraphernalia including T-shirts, mugs and hats for the over 12 000 delegates
that were set to attend the Zanu PF extraordinary congress in December.
The other consignments were meant for the thousands who
were expected to attend the presidential youth interface rally with students in
Harare on November 18 and the Harare province presidential youth interface
rally, whose date was still to be set when political uncertainty unravelled.
However, that material has been rendered useless after
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in yesterday as the second executive
president of Zimbabwe following the resignation of Mugabe after days of
sustained pressure.
“We will honour our promise to all our suppliers and we
will still pay what we agreed as per our contracts,” said a source in the
department of regalia procurement at Zanu PF who declined to be named.
“What has happened will not change anything. I can’t
obviously give you figures of how much was ordered but I can tell you that we
will donate the regalia to orphanages.”
Zanu PF secretary of finance Obert Mpofu could not be drawn
to comment on the matter and directed the Daily News on Sunday to party
spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo saying his department was responsible for party
regalia.
Khaya Moyo said the party will honour their agreements with
all suppliers but declined to shed light on what they would do with the
material.
Findings by the Daily News on Sundayshowed that the
storeroom at the Zanu PF headquarters is full to the brim with paraphernalia
emblazoned with the face of Mugabe and his wife.
“That is an internal party matter,” he insisted, adding:
“We have not discussed what we will do with it next.”
Elsewhere, the Daily News on Sunday understands that Zanu
PF provincial executive committees have instructed party members to stop
wearing regalia emblazoned with embattled former first lady’s face.
The former liberation movement had made orders of regalia
from various suppliers for the presidential youth interface rally with students
and the proposed December Zanu PF extraordinary congress.
One of the main beneficiaries of the proceeds of the
regalia was Grace whom Zanu PF had awarded the job to design the party’s new
regalia following the Masvingo annual conference in December 2016.
The first lady has always bragged that she is a
fashionista, with her husband claiming she even makes her own clothes.
Grace had maintained after that meeting that proceeds from
the regalia sales will go to Zanu PF women’s league, which she headed before
her husband was unceremoniously ousted.
“We decided to come up with this design as the women’s
league so that we can fundraise for our activities. The philosophy behind the
fabric design is that we wanted to do away with the razor on our cloth and
replace it with the map of Zimbabwe, which represents a tea pot from which we
all drink,” said Grace explaining the fabric’s print design and the philosophy
behind it — which includes Mugabe’s face.
She went on to say that “inside the map is a mealie cob
because we are an agrarian economy and there is also the country’s flower, the
Flame Lily”, adding that “if you are not properly dressed in these garments,
then you must be prepared to pay a $100 fine…” Daily News
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