adminSamuel Kadungure Senior Reporter
THE Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Cde Manidi Chimene has set the developmental tone for 2016, describing the year as going to be “pregnant” with activities meant to strengthen the ZimAsset while vowing to “crush” those bent on throwing spanners in her work.
Cde Chimene made clear her bold determination to pull the province’s developmental wagon through the drift at an interactive meeting organised by her office to get an update from local authorities, Government departments, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the business community in Manicaland.
It had the theme: “Whither Manicaland, Implementing ZimAsset in 2016’’.
She said: “I will be at the steering, and in charge and anyone who dares to disembark from the moving train, will be crushed. The train cannot change course to avoid you, you will be a victim, and don’t say I didn’t warn you,” said Cde Chimene.
“2015 was my first year and a learning curve, I am now better informed and equipped and to tell you the truth, 2016 will not be a stroll in the park. It will be a different year. People will have to go out in the field to work with the people. We are going to operate in clusters that are enshrined in ZimAsset, and I want to see which cluster will let us down. There will be no room for sleepers as we have to strengthen the implementation of ZimAsset,” she said.
She singled out the poor state of roads, hunger, value addition and beneficiation, poor attitude toward work, drought and climate change as major challenges that the province will tackle.
Cde Chineme, for the first time, singled NGOs in the province for honours for the multifaceted initiatives in complementing Government efforts to improve standards of living in rural communities.
She however, admitted having had “a cat and mouse” relationship with the NGOs said she was looking forward to strengthening the working relationship between them.
She appealed to the NGOs to increase and broaden their scope of work in order to reach out to other marginalised communities and pledged to smoothen the way for them amid complaints by NGOs that they were facing challenges at grassroots.
The NGOs also complained about the politicisation of some local Government and rural development structures.
“The NGOs have been instrumental in spearheading development in Manicaland; they have led and shown us the way and how it should be done. We should take a cue from them. At first we had a cat and mouse relationship until I made it very clear to them that patriotism was non-negotiable.
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