By Desire Tshuma
HARARE — ZANU-PF is targeting US$6 million from the business community for a legacy dinner to be held ahead of the party’s upcoming conference in Chinhoyi.
Party fundraiser Dr Phillip Chiyangwa said the dinner would give businesspeople an opportunity to interact directly with President Emmerson Mnangagwa while supporting preparations for the conference.
“We believe that we put a figure of US$6 million. We do know that there are corporates who are prepared to sign out a cheque, so we hope that we can be able to get more six-million-dollar cheques coming through, but our target is six million for this dinner,” Chiyangwa said.
He said the party had already engaged government departments and parastatals on the allocation of tables, with details on the date, venue and table contributions expected to be announced next week.
The fundraising drive will target a broad section of the business community, including large corporates, farmers, entrepreneurs and small-scale miners.
“We want to offer the opportunity to everybody to come to the table and be with the President, talk about what they wish for,” Chiyangwa said.
He said the party also wanted to engage small-scale miners, who he described as an increasingly important contributor to Zimbabwe’s gold production.
“Small-scale miners, they are about 1.5 million. Even if you take a dollar from them, it’s 1.5 million,” he said.
Chiyangwa said contributions would help strengthen the party’s organisational machinery.
“What we are more keen on is those who are prepared to put more money on the table to ensure that this party machinery is functioning properly without any problems,” he said.
He urged businesses and individuals who support the party to contribute.
“Please love your party, love your President, and make sure that love is contributing,” he said.
Party officials linked the fundraising initiative to what they described as increased economic activity under the Second Republic, citing developments in mining and the broader SME sector.
Another official said small-scale gold production had risen significantly over the past decade and that miners were seeking greater engagement with government on regulatory, safety, environmental and operational issues.
He said the proposed engagement with the President would give businesses an opportunity to raise challenges affecting their sectors and discuss ways of improving the operating environment.
The dinner is expected to form part of ZANU-PF’s activities leading into its conference in Chinhoyi, with organisers saying the final venue, date and table arrangements would be announced next week.