Chronicle Editor
Vincent Gono, Features Editor
THURSDAY 1 July marks 22 years after the passing on of a larger-than-life character in the political birth of the country, Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo. And indeed, at death he was honoured and celebrated with the moniker Father Zimbabwe, a name that was apt and depicted who he was in the construction of the country as an independent State.
Politicians who worked with him described him as a giant statesman, a mentor, a politician, a strategist, a visionary and most importantly a father not only to his children but to the revolution that brought about the country Zimbabwe and all that it is.
He was among the men who gave Zimbabweans a vision of an independent and united nation. He supplied both courage, ideology and direction to the revolution and his name deserves recognition. It remains etched in the history of the country.
Dr Nkomo’s death on 1 July 1999 like that of iconic figures was mourned and celebrated nationally and internationally for the political legendary that he was both before and after independence. A senior politician who is Zanu PF National Women’s League Deputy Secretary Cde Angeline Masuku said Dr Nkomo’s vision was that of having a country that competes very well in the international economic matrix with its rich mineral endowments.
She said Dr Nkomo was the architect of value addition and beneficiation. The projects, she said, were strategically economic and sought to unravel the great economic potential that the country has that the late Father Zimbabwe had realised. “He should be hallowed not only for the part he played in liberating the country and bringing the country’s tribes at peace with each other but for his selflessness as he always looked at the greater national good — the broader picture at the very expense of his person and his ego as one of the founders of the revolution. Dr Nkomo never lost focus of the land issue, itself among the prime causes of the liberation struggle and was a proponent of hard work.
Nxa lifuna imali, phendulelani ibala elithi mali, lithi lima, he would say,” she said.
Cde Masuku said although Cde Nkomo died just a year shy of the beginning of the land reform, he was indeed a man who wanted to see land being given to the black majority and his projects all point to that grand vision.
She said Dr Nkomo was a national leader who was not restricted by regional boundaries but he knew too well that he was Zimbabwean before anything else and therefore even his tribe could not contain him as his vision cut across trivial tribal and regional politics.
She added that the late Father Zimbabwe played a role in the technological revolution of the country as it was him who was approached by Mr Strive Masiyiwa when he was facing challenges getting a licence to start now telecommunications giant company Econet.
Projects such as the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP), Gwayi-Shangani Dam, Mtshabezi pipeline project, Ekusileni Medical Centre, Esigodini and Norton tomato puree canning plants, timber logging in Muzarabani, Tsholotsho, Lupane and Nkayi, Tea and coffee project in Vumba and a mining project in Penhalonga and other Development Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ) projects such as cattle ranching in the Nuanetsi ranch in Mwenezi were initiated by Dr Nkomo.
The projects have however, been taken up, sanctified and made a dream come true under the new political dispensation with a number of them making remarkable progress with President Mnangagwa affirming his commitment to the development of the Matabeleland region as well.
Work on the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, an important component of the NMZWP is progressing smoothly while a commitment to open Ekusileni has been made with notable progress. President Mnangagwa has also promised to see to it that resources were released to facelift the Joshua Nkomo Museum so that it attains a cultural site status.
This has been met with gratitude in the region with Cde Richard Maduke Ndlovu saying it was good that Dr Nkomo’s vision was being realised. He applauded President Mnangagwa for being a listening President while Cde Masuku said he doesn’t only listen but acts.
Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development who was the Minister of State in Dr Nkomo’s office Cde Sithembiso Nyoni chronicled how most of the developmental projects were started and their objectives.
She said most of the projects have a national outlook and were a direct response to the concerns of the ordinary people of Zimbabwe and meant to benefit the entire population and poor communities. Minister Nyoni said Dr Nkomo’s projects were not regional but national as the Development Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ) established projects in Masvingo Province in the Nuanetsi Ranch of Mwenezi district where there were cattle, a coffee plantation in the Vumba area in Manicaland Province and another tomato puree project in Norton and a mining project in Penhalonga.
The Tomato Puree plants were established in Norton and another in Esigodini. The idea was to produce tomatoes and process them for the local market and for export. The Esigodini plant, had it been a success, was also going to produce mangoes, peaches, guavas and even lemon puree after the realisation that the fruits were abundant and were rotting when people could make money out of them.
Minister Nyoni said her ministry had since taken up of the Esigodini project to bring to fruition the late Father Zimbabwe’s dream and vision. She said the Esigodini project was also going to see the development of a big irrigation scheme for large scale production of tomatoes where water was going to come from Mtshabezi Dam.
She said the project in the Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi was meant to promote livestock and crop production as well as improve the livelihood of the communities that borders the ranch.
Minister Nyoni said the project thrived during the early years and was greatly affected by the drought that hit the country in the early 1990s where most of the cattle in the ranch succumbed to drought.
“I remember very well that most of the projects were started when I was working as Minister of State in his office. He had a national vision and he was already looking at beneficiation and value addition. You would notice that the value addition crusade that the country is pursuing now was already in Dr Nkomo’s vision when he initiated the Esigodini and Norton canning and puree plants as well as the tea and coffee in Manicaland. His vision was to set the processing equipment so that we value add and not export the tea, coffee, tomatoes and other fruits in their raw form. The projects were supposed to benefit the communities in those areas. So, what he would do was to identify the abundant resource in an area and support the communities to get something out of the resources that would transform their lives,” she said.
On the Nuanetsi Ranch she said there were enough cattle and they used to send bulls to the communities that surround the ranch for cross breeding so that communities improve on their breeds after it was realised that the area was part of a fertile cattle breeding region.
The Norton plant was some years ago up and running but the Esigodini one never took off despite the importation of expensive equipment from Italy that was gathering dust and rust at the Arda Balu Estate in Umguza for more than 15 years now.
On Ekusileni Medical Centre she said the concept was to establish a state-of-the-art diagnostic centre with all the modern medical equipment where even people from the countryside were to get treatment without paying with an arm and a leg.
Minister Nyoni said all the projects dovetails with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) where the process of structural transformation is central to stimulating an inclusive and sustained growth pattern that enables more people to benefit from higher productivity levels in more advanced segments of the economy. The NDS1 clearly spells that the broad objective is to rebalance the economy and reverse the structural regression.
“The goal is to gradually improve the contribution of the secondary sector to Gross Domestic Product from 10.6% in 2020 to 15% by 2025. and the contribution of value-added exports to total exports from US$ 727.47 million in 2020 to about US$ 1337.00 million in 2025,” reads NDS1.
The minister said broadly, the key link to structural transformation is value addition and beneficiation of agriculture and mining products which was the lane that Dr Nkomo was pursuing. She said it was good that, “we are seeing the merging of Dr Nkomo’s vision with the present where priority will be to develop and strengthen already existing value chains, beneficiation of minerals and in the process promoting linkage of Small to Medium Enterprises with large corporates under the captainship of President Mnangagwa.”
It was her argument that NDS1 was also prioritising decentralisation of industrialisation initiatives in line with the policy thrust of devolution and decentralisation which feature was part of Dr Nkomo’s vision when he initiated projects where the resources were for the benefit of the local communities.
According to NDS1, value addition and beneficiation industries will be located in specific provinces and districts where the endowments are located such as the timber in Muzarabani, Lupane and Tsholotsho, tea in Vumba and tomatoes in Esigodini and Norton.
Online Reporter