The Uhuru concert usually takes place the weekend preceding April 18, or a few days before the country commemorates Independence Day.
The music extravaganza, which runs from dusk to dawn and features an array of musicians, has for years been manipulated by Zanu (PF) to propagate the party’s agenda.
The Director of Urban Communications in the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity, Anyway Mutambudzi, said the organising committee was yet to set a date for the event.
“There is no money to finance the gala therefore there is no event. We cannot force things,” said Mutambudzi.
He confirmed that the organising committee was waiting for communication from the treasury on the availability of funds, but the official position is that everything had been shelved because of financial constraints.
Mutambudzi added that: “There are other priorities and because of that, we cannot push for resources. We have no power to do that”.
War Veteran and faction leader of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Joseph Chinotimba, said as war veterans, they were cognisant of the current financial crisis as the country heads towards elections.
“As war veterans, we value that event because it is a day that recognizes our efforts and contribution to the Independence of Zimbabwe, but I am not blaming anyone that it has failed to take place. People should just understand the critical position that we are in financially as a country because of the impending elections,” he said.
Last year, the musical extravaganza was held in Harare under the theme “Indigenisation and Empowerment for Economic Development”.
Post published in: News