Joseph Madzimure, Senior Reporter

ZANU PF has appointed Cde Ishmael Mada as the new director of the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology, taking over from Cde Munyaradzi Machacha who was elevated to become the party’s National Political Commissar.

Cde Machacha has held the position of head of school since the advent of the second republic in 2017 and Cde Mada’s appointment is effective from September this year.

The school taught about the country’s fundamental and ideological ethos and principles, which continues to gain ground among the majority of Zimbabweans and even within SADC.

The country’s core ethos aligns with President Mnangagwa’s philosophical statements, rallying the nation for collective national development embodied by the mantras: “Nyika inovakawa nevene vayo”, “Building Zimbabwe brick by brick, stone by stone” and “Leave no one behind”. and no place behind”.

President Mnangagwa’s philosophical statements are based on the party’s “socialist ideology with Zimbabwean characteristics”, which directs his own government to ensure that the country’s God-given natural resources are owned and controlled by the people of Zimbabwe, and the wealth from it is for the benefit of to everyone.

The impact of the programs offered by the school has had a stabilizing effect on the national economic development agenda and increased the momentum of industrialization as the nation moves towards achieving the 2030 vision.

As explained in the ZANU PF Central Committee report produced at the end of the party’s Annual National People’s Conference held in Bulawayo, the Chitepo School of Ideology carried out a number of activities aimed at supporting the party’s mass mobilization efforts.

“Based on the polling station mobilization strategy of the Commissariat Department, the school organized a series of workshops targeting different segments of society.

“These programs were designed to equip participants with historical and ideological knowledge of Zanu PF’s revolutionary experience accumulated over the years.

“During the analyzed period, the school strengthened its working relationship and qualified the training institutions of the Government and non-governmental organizations,” the report of the Central Committee states.

More than 1,500 members from these institutions participated in the basic orientation course initiation workshops at national level.

The Commissionerate Department through its Returnees Office, Kumusha Home Ekhaya, partnered with the Chitepo School of Ideology to train its members who returned to Zanu PF from opposition political parties.

During the period under review, the school trained 1 070 KHE members in the basic orientation course at Dadaya National Youth Service Training Center in Zvishavane, Manjolo Business Center in Binga Rural District 7 as well as Jambezi Growth Point in Hwange East.

Meanwhile, the party has completed the construction of the state-of-the-art headquarters of the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology, worth a million dollars, at the south-east corner of Samora Machel Boulevard and Simon Muzenda Street in Harare.

President Mnangagwa, who is the mastermind behind the construction of the ideological school, is expected to officially open it at a date to be announced. The building has six classrooms with a load capacity of 360 students per enrollment. There is a cafeteria and an information technology center.

Enrollment is open to all who wish to attend the school’s courses.

Students will take a basic orientation course that is designed to provide ideological orientation to all sectors of Zimbabwean society “leaving no one and no place behind”.