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HARARE – Government has launched a new cultural heritage-based training course for local mayors, chairpersons and councillors, which will include modules and manuals from Zanu PF’s “Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology”.
Speaking on Wednesday, Local Government Minister Daniel Gawe stressed the importance of the training in strengthening the understanding of local government officials on their key role in national affairs and development. The programme, supported by the Herbert Chitepo Ideological Academy, aims to align local authorities more closely with central government policies.
“Local authorities are semi-autonomous entities responsible for developing policy, leveraging local resources and promoting economic growth,” Gawe said. “For these reasons and many others, it is vital that local authorities are in sync with central government in terms of policies, procedures and actions.”
Garvey also noted the challenges posed by a diverse political landscape within local government, noting that limited knowledge of the country’s history, identity and political landscape often hinders meaningful dialogue and initiatives.
To address these issues, the ministry will implement a three-phase induction training programme aimed at equipping mayors, chairpersons and councillors with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively lead their respective councils. Garwe stressed that this training is crucial to achieving the government’s goal of building an upper-middle-income society by 2030.
Gawe stressed that the training materials incorporate the curriculum of the Herbert Chitepo Ideology School, noting that the Ministry of Education draws inspiration from countries such as China, the United States, Russia, Singapore and Japan, which all use patriotic education activities to cultivate national pride and uphold moral values.
Despite initially planning to boycott the ideological training, the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) has confirmed that its councillors and mayors will participate in the programme as it is managed by the Ministry of Local Government and not directly by Zanu PF.
“If it is a ministerial programme, the CCC has no power to prevent its members from attending such training. However, if it is a Zanu PF party programme, we will prevent them from attending because it would represent the imposition of another party’s ideology on us, an opposition movement,” CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said in an interview.
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