Govt closing rural, urban gap: Vice President Nkomo

Karoi at the launch of the First Choice Wholesale last week, VP Nkomo said develop­ment skewed against rural communi­ties was unacceptable.
He said measures were being put in place to even the socio-economic imbalances. “It is the guiding principle of the Government of Zimbabwe to even the socio-economic imbalances between the urban and rural segments of the Zimbabwean population,” said VP Nkomo. “The setting up of growth points in the rural areas was intended to engen­der development, with the intent of making goods and services easily accessible to the generality of our peo­ple.” VP Nkomo said the development of rural areas would stem rural to urban migration which put urban infrastructure under pressure.

He said co-operatives and pooling of resources was a way of uplifting communities. VP Nkomo said co-operatives and people-centred pro­grammes were an alternative dispen­sation to the Western capitalist model which thrives on exploiting the poor.

“The world is yearning for a new dispensation, a new world order that negates the pillars of capitalism,” he said. “The world needs a new order in which self-interest and profits are not the major driving force behind busi­ness and human endeavours.”

First Choice Wholesale is an initia­tive that brings goods and services closer to the people at affordable prices.

The Karoi branch is the fourth after the launch of the first branch in Mt Darwin by President Mugabe in April.
Two other branches are in Gwanda and Mutoko.