The Zimbabwe Communist Party (ZCP) recently held its central committee meeting in Bulawayo to develop a program of action for 2024, with its second elective congress at the top of the agenda.
Although some of the party leadership is based in South Africa, the ZCP stated it would meet with party structures soon to discuss the party’s upcoming action plan.
General Secretary of the ZCP, Nicholas Ngqabutho Mabhena, told CITE that the central committee will meet again in due course to adopt the draft of the party program.
“The central committee met on February 17, 2024, to develop a program of action for 2024. At the top of the agenda is the second elective congress of the party, where the ZCP held its first congress in 2019, electing me as general secretary,” he said.
Mabhena explained that at its first congress, the ZCP resolved to hold a congress every five years, and one is due this year in August.
“The central committee has been mandated to be the organising committee to convene the congress so that there can be new leadership and the new party program will be adopted at the congress,” said the general secretary.
He added that the central committee also resolved that the ZCP needs to begin meeting with the party structures to discuss the party program.
“Once the party program is adopted, the central committee will meet in due course and circulate it further to party structures for discussion,” Mabhena said.
“The party program will focus on what is happening within Zimbabwe, such as the issue of evictions, the state of the economy, and the issue of state power itself.”
Mabhena explained that the central committee felt that state power needed to be separated from the issue of elections.
“There’s an assumption that elections will result in state power, which is not correct because an election by its very nature is reformist in character, and the people of Zimbabwe are now always in election mode,” said the general secretary.
He also added that the ZCP was still pursuing the issue of a national economic dialogue, which remains one of its top priorities.
“The economy is affecting people as citizens struggle with how to put food on their tables, send their children to school or the clinic, and so on. These are topical issues on the minds of Zimbabweans, and the ZCP central committee recognises this reality,” Mabhena said.
“As a result, the central committee agreed to continue pursuing the issue of the national economic dialogue because we need to build a national democratic economy based on national planning linked to devolution of power to the people.”
