By Fanuel Chinowaita
Chipinge, 1 February 2026— Special Adviser for Investments to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Dr Paul Tungwarara, has said sustained attacks on ZANU PF’s empowerment programmes amount to an assault on Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 and the country’s broader development agenda.
Dr Tungwarara made the remarks yesterday while attending a ZANU PF National Cell Day meeting at Rusununguko Cell in Chipinge Central, held at Gaza Primary School, where he said the strong turnout reflected growing confidence in the ruling party and its leadership.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Dr Tungwarara said the large numbers that attended were a clear demonstration of grassroots support for ZANU PF and President Mnangagwa.
“I can actually see that people love the party and they love their President because they came out in their numbers,” he said. “I am also sure that there are new members who are joining the party, which I personally witnessed.”
Addressing criticism directed at the empowerment drive, Dr Tungwarara said opposition to the programme was resistance to national development.
“When you attack the empowerment programmes that ZANU PF is implementing, you are attacking the vision of this country,” he said. “Vision 2030 is anchored on empowerment, economic growth and improving the livelihoods of our people.”
Dr Tungwarara urged party leaders to remain grounded and connected to the party’s liberation roots.
“We want to be leaders, but we must never forget the legacy of ZANU PF which brought independence to this country,” he said. “Whether you are Central Committee members, Politburo members or in other party structures, humility and loyalty to the grassroots must guide us.”
He commended President Mnangagwa for what he described as tangible economic reforms under the Second Republic, saying empowerment remained central to national transformation.
“I want to thank our President, Comrade Emmerson Mnangagwa, for what he has done in this new dispensation to ensure that the economy is changing,” Dr Tungwarara said. “Empowerment is ongoing and it has not stopped.”
However, he acknowledged challenges in the early phases of the empowerment programme, particularly around accountability, saying corrective measures were now being put in place.
“If you followed the empowerment drive when it was launched, people were receiving funds but there were no proper records on how the money was being used,” he said. “That is why the party, through the Commissariat Department, is now strengthening monitoring and evaluation.”
He said a new framework, being spearheaded by the party’s Secretary-General, would track the disbursement and utilisation of empowerment funds across all party affiliates, including the Youth League and War Veterans League.
“The purpose of empowerment is not just to distribute money, but to produce visible results on the ground,” he said.
ZANU PF Manicaland Chairperson Tawanda Mukodza said attendance across the province during National Cell Day demonstrated the party’s strength at grassroots level.
“The attendance was very good,” Mukodza said in an interview with the Journalists in Chipinge . “Those who did not attend had genuine reasons such as being at work or attending funerals, but the core of the party was present.”
He added that ZANU PF was continuing to attract new members from other political formations.
“There are many people who have come from other parties and are now joining our cells,” Mukodza said. “If a cell has 50 members and more than three-quarters attend, it shows the party is strong.”
Mukodza said he had toured Mutasa, Mutare and Chipinge and found party structures active and intact.
National Cell Day saw ZANU PF cells across the country convene simultaneously as the ruling party intensifies grassroots mobilisation efforts in line with Vision 2030.