SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
As the news was coming out that the treasury is struggling to finance its wage bill ZANU PF announced that it will Friday hold a fund raising dinner where the most expensive table will be going for $25,000. A Thursday Daily News report quoted ZANU PF deputy secretary for finance, Charles Tavengwa, saying his party wants to raise $3 million for its 14th annual conference to be held in Chinhoyi in a couple of weeks. Ironically, the conference will be held under the theme, Zim Asset: Growing the Economy for Empowerment and Employment. The dinner will be held at the up- market Golden Peacock Hotel in the Manicaland capital of Mutare. Supa Mandiwanzira said the Diamond table will be the most expensive, followed by the Platinum and Gold which will be going for $15,000 and $5,000 respectively with individuals forking out $100 each. But according to reports this week the government is in such dire straits that some civil servants will only have their Christmas bonuses paid next year. The news of the dinner also comes at a time when workers at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings have gone for five months without being paid. Only a fortnight ago Mandiwanzira, who is also the deputy minister of Information, was in the news saying the government would ensure that journalists, as well as the civil servants, are paid their wages. But a ZBC reporter told SW Radio Africa Thursday that things were getting worse with the state broadcaster paying them only allowances of as little as $50. Analyst Itai Dzamara told SW Radio Africa that it was not surprising that ZANU PF was prioritising its own conference because it has ‘always had an upside down approach to issues of national concern’. Dzamara said it was hypocrisy on Mandiwanzira’s part to appear to be more active on ZANU PF matters, soon after he promised to ensure the ZBC workers’ plight was attended to. In the Daily News report Mandiwanzira is quoted inviting guests to come to the dinner and witness Didymus or Oppah Muchinguri ‘jiving away’ to local music.