Zimbabwe's ruling party burdened with 5 million Mugabe T-shirts - report

Zimbabwe’s ruling party, the Zanu-PF, is burdened with millions of party paraphernalia that they cannot use in the present political campaign
, the privately-owned Daily News reports.

The failure to use the over 5 million branded T-shirts is because it bears the image of their overthrown leader Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Zimbabwe is in campaign mode ahead of July 30 elections – the first time Robert Mugabe will not be contesting.

The report noted that acquirement of the materials currently packed at the headquarters was made before Robert Mugabe’s unanticipated removal last year and that it was expedited by former minister of finance and Zanu-PF’s secretary for administration Ignatius Chombo from China.

 “Mr. Chombo had bought T-shirts and other paraphernalia from China as they prepare for their extraordinary congress and also polls, but then that was not to be as Robert Mugabe was removed before the Congress.

“Now the T-shirts are gathering dust at the party headquarters,” an anonymous Zanu-PF source was quoted as saying.

The nonagenarian who governed Zimbabwe for over 3 decades was overthrown after a military involvement in November 2017. He was due to be the flag bearer of the party for polls scheduled for later this month.

His sacked former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa successively returned from exile in South Africa