Online Reporter
Judith Phiri Sunday News Reporter
THE Government has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring equitable service delivery across the country, pledging to leave no place behind as it accelerates the provision of essential infra-structure and public services in underserved areas.
In districts perceived to be traditionally marginalised such as Binga, development has been structured and deliberate as the Second Republic moves to tackle infrastructure challenges and essential service delivery issues to improve the welfare of the communities.
The gesture on Thursday by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works Daniel Garwe who commissioned a council clinic, motorbikes, road equipment and service vehicles in Binga is a testament to President Mnangagwa’s leaving no-one and no place behind development approach meant to meet the demands of the people.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Minister Garwe called on Binga councillors to traverse all wards and engage communities directly to identify their needs, as the Government steps up efforts to improve service delivery and ensure no area is left behind.
“We are commissioning 32 motorbikes for our councillors, one for every ward, together with four additional operational motorbikes, ensuring that, for the first time in a very long time, every councillor in Binga will have the means to physically reach every household under their representation.
“Allow me to dwell upon this point, for it deserves emphasis. Binga is a large, sparsely populated and in places extremely difficult to access district. A councillor without transport in such a district is a Councillor disconnected from the very people they were elected to serve,” he said.
“These motorbikes are not a convenience, they are an instrument of democracy itself. They en-sure that representation in this district is not confined to those wards nearest the district centre, but extends fully and equally to every ward, every village and every household across Binga.”
He said service delivery is and must remain, the singular measure by which they judge the success of local Government in Zimbabwe.
He said for a district such as Binga, where communities have historically battled drought, where the road network has for decades constrained access to markets and services and where the distances between wards are considerable, service delivery cannot be an abstract concept dis-cussed only in council chambers.
The minister said it must be delivered on wheels, on graded roads and through functioning clinics.
Minister Garwe issued a direct call to action for Binga councillors, leadership and management.
“In line with the directive of President Mnangagwa that there must be No Compromise to Service Delivery, I call upon each of you, as the custodians of the assets commissioned here today, to put them to work immediately.
“To our councillors, these motorbikes must be seen upon the roads of Binga, not parked idly in yards. I expect every councillor to use this asset to reach every corner of their ward, to hear directly from residents and to feed those concerns back into this council’s planning and budgeting processes. Representation that does not reach the people it represents is representation in name only,” he added.
He called upon the council management to institute clear, transparent systems for the utilisation, fuelling, maintenance and accountability of every vehicle, every motorbike and every piece of road equipment commissioned.
The Minister said the assets belong to the people of Binga and their use must be able to with-stand public scrutiny at all times.
“To the chairperson and to this council collectively, I call upon you to hold regular stakeholder engagement meetings and to prioritise projects that are sustainable not only in their construction but in their long-term operation and maintenance by this community.”
Minister Garwe said development was not something done to communities, but it was some-thing built together with them and he called on the people of the district to embrace the equipment, clinic and council as instruments that belong to them.
“What we commission here is not an isolated district-level event. It is a direct, practical expression of the priorities articulated in our National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), which places infrastructure development, equitable access to health services, rural road connectivity and strengthened local governance capacity at the very centre of our national development agenda,” he said.
He said NDS2 recognises explicitly that a nation cannot achieve balanced, inclusive development if its remote and historically marginalised districts such as Binga are left behind.
The minister said the clinic, road equipment and the mobility assets were a direct answer to that national strategic priority, brought to life in a specific, tangible way in the district.
He said the investments are not mere assets, they are instruments of empowerment, designed to strengthen governance, improve service delivery and uplift the lives of our people.
“As we commission these resources today, let us reaffirm our shared commitment to building resilient communities, advancing development and ensuring that no citizen is left behind, as we march together towards the fulfilment of Vision 2030.”
