Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party has reportedly imposed a 12-hour curfew in Masvingo ahead of the arrival of President Robert Mugabe who is expected to officially open the party’s annual conference on Friday.
According to New Zimbabwe .com, security had been beefed up in Rhodene, a suburb adjacent to the Masvingo showgrounds, the venue of the conference.
The Zanu-PF conference kicked off on Tuesday, with the party’s central committee meeting at the Zanu-PF headquarters in Harare to receive a report from the politburo on the state of the party.
“We have been ordered to remain indoors from 18:00 to 06:00 and we are subjected to random searches and harassment by security officers if one is found walking near the conference venue after 18:00,” a resident was quoted as saying.
The conference was expected to once again endorse the veteran leader as the presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.
Reports on Wednesday indicated that Mugabe had, during the meeting in Harare criticised party officials for allegedly “bickering” over positions of power and jostling to succeed him.
“Positions in the party are not jumped upon. People rise slowly,” Mugabe, 92, reportedly told the central committee.
“So, dirty politics should never be countenanced in our party. The tradition of our party is never one of bickering over party positions,” he said.
Despite his advanced age, Mugabe has avoided naming a successor or laying out plans to retire. He once joked that he would rule until he turned 100.
Mugabe has ruled the southern African country since its independence in 1980.
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