All roads lead to Zaka

Ivan Zhakata, Herald Correspondent

ALL roads lead to Zaka, Masvingo province tomorrow where President Mnangagwa will address a Zanu-PF star rally at Chinorumba High School ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections next month.

The rally, which is the fourth one after Chipinge, Bulilima and Magunje, is yet another tour de force as the revolutionary party flexes its muscles and displays the best organisational skills, putting it ahead of it’s political rivals contesting for power next month.

Masvingo province is renowned for sugarcane production, tourism and also houses water bodies like Lake Muturikwi and Tugwi-Mukosi.

Tourism sites in the province include the Great Zimbabwe Monuments, Save Valley Conservancy, and Gonarezhou National Park which is part of the Gaza Kruger Transfrontier and all these are either being transformed or upgraded under the leadership of President Mnangagwa.

So far 677 projects have been implemented in Masvingo and of these, a total of 537 have been completed while 140 are ongoing.

At Tugwi-Mukosi Dam, the master plan to operationalise irrigation, fisheries, human and wildlife settlements, hydro-power generation, and tourism activities was approved in 2022 to pave way for the commencement of all envisaged works.

The implementation of the Education 5.0 model has resulted in the establishment of rural industries such as the Mapfura/Marula Processing Plant in Mwenezi, creating employment opportunities for people from the surrounding communities. The plant produces Mapfura wine, Mapfura high-value oil, and stock feed.

The Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) innovation hub for dryland agriculture in Chivi district is advancing traditional knowledge in competitive indigenous grain crops, livestock, apiculture, and aquaculture breeds.

Also, products of the Second Republic are two community radio stations, the Avuxeni and GZU Campus radio stations which cater to the Shangaan community in Chiredzi and Masvingo.

Taking development to the people and leaving no one and no place behind, the two radio stations broadcast in Shona, Venda and Shangaan languages.

Under President Mnangagwa, infrastructural development in the province accelerated through the construction of Mupembedzi and Lower Shange bridges in Gutu and the rehabilitation and maintenance of feeder roads including Tanganda-Ngundu road, and the signature Harare-Beitbridge road that cuts through the province.

Notable devolution projects that were implemented centred on essential infrastructure such as clinics, water and sanitation, feeder roads and schools.

The GZU Simon Mazorodze School of Medical Health Sciences was also established to train local and regional medical and health professionals.

The thrust of the President is to empower communities that have for long been left behind while tapping into their time-honed skills to contribute to economic growth and modernisation.

Chiredzi, in particular, has advanced infrastructure that also includes large water sources such as Bhangala and Tugwi-Mukosi and it is for that reason that it became the first port of call for Government to start in earnest the transformation process in line with President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030, to transform the country into an upper middle-class economy by 2030.

Under the programme that is already being implemented, disadvantaged communal farmers will be turned into communal/commercial farmers who will farm all year round instead of coaxing a living from seasonal cropping relying on rain-fed agriculture.

Chiredzi, which also encompasses the much talked about but misunderstood Chilonga communal areas, will see irrigation of more than 20 000 hectares of land and only 6 000ha will be under Lucerne grass cultivation to support livestock production.

Historically, multilaterals have elbowed out indigenous people from their fertile lands and now the Second Republic seeks to empower instead of disempowering and to modernise and mechanise.