Online Reporter
Today all roads lead to Nembudziya, Gokwe North in the Midlands Province which is playing host to this year’s National Independence Day celebrations. The celebrations which are at Mutora Business Centre are being held under the theme: “Zim@45: Devolve and Develop Together Towards Vision 2030” which underscores the Second Republic’s commitment to inclusive national development and decentralisation of key State events.
More than 60 000 people from across the country are expected to throng Mutora Business Centre for the National Uhuru celebrations. The national celebrations are being held outside the capital, Harare for the fourth year running since Government adopted a system of rotating the hosting of the celebrations to ensure no one and no place is left behind.
Last year the national celebrations were at Murambinda Business Centre, Buhera District in Manicaland Province. Gokwe North, like other districts that have played host to the National Celebrations, has benefited from a number of legacy projects implemented ahead of the celebrations which include construction of new hostels at Nyamuroro High School to accommodate 3 000 children that attended the Children’s Party yesterday, a modern football stadium at Mutora Business Centre where the main celebrations are being held, improved road network and boreholes among other infrastructure projects.
It is our hope that as citizens converge for the Uhuru celebrations today at the different venues across the country, they will take the opportunity to reflect on the country’s achievements since 1980 when the country was freed from the yoke of colonialism.
Citizens that are not able to travel to Gokwe North for the main celebrations are expected to attend their respective district or provincial celebrations. The country’s gallant sons and daughters sacrificed their lives to liberate the country and they should be smiling in their graves after Government successfully implemented the land reform programme.
More than 300 000 families are now owners of land in areas that include what used to be a preserve of the white commercial farmers. Most Zimbabweans before independence were confined to barren land while white commercial farmers occupied prime farming areas in different parts of the country.
The skewed land ownership was one of the major grievances that drove Zimbabweans to take up arms to fight the settler regime. Government has since independence implemented a number of life-changing projects across the country which include construction of roads, bridges, dams, schools, clinics, drilled boreholes and also established a number of irrigation schemes to enhance food security.
The challenge this year is therefore is to sustain this development momentum and this calls for each and every citizen to put shoulder to the wheel. What is encouraging is that most of the development projects are being implemented by local companies, a confirmation that the country has the required skilled manpower.
The country is however, under siege from both internal and external detractors that are peddling falsehoods to destabilise the peace and tranquillity that citizens are enjoying.
Today we should therefore come in our numbers at the different Uhuru celebrations venues to shame our detractors that want to divide us. It is only us who can build the Zimbabwe we all want and to achieve this we should have a shared vision as a people. Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo/ Ilizwe Lakhiwa Ngabaninilo.
