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Wallace Ruzvidzo-Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT has approved the implementation of the Community Share Ownership Trust Framework which will ensure inclusive economic growth and drive rural development, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere has said.
Addressing a post-Cabinet media briefing held in Harare yesterday, Dr Muswere said the implementation of Community Economic Empowerment Trusts followed Government’s adoption of rural industrialisation as a key development strategy to ensure inclusive economic growth in line with President Mnangagwa’s mantra of leaving no one and no place behind.
The trusts, he said, are expected to form a vital cog that attracts investment, including through partnerships in agro-processing, leveraging on the local agricultural economy and Village Business Units being established countrywide.
Communities will also be supported to set up industrial parks, working with potential partners in their respective districts.
Dr Muswere said the Economic Empowerment and Indigenisation Act will also be amended and properly aligned with the new thrust on trusts, to accelerate development towards the attainment of upper-middle-class economic status by 2030.
“Furthermore, the proposed Economic Empowerment and Indigenisation Amendment Bill will be aligned with the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill.
“The Implementation Framework for Community Share Ownership Trusts (CSOTs) aims to ensure that communities benefit from the extraction and exploitation of natural resources in their respective areas through revenue-sharing formulae.
“Companies that have complied with laws of the country by paying dividends to the Community Share Ownership Trusts under their jurisdiction will continue their operations while new entrants are subjected to the new requirements,” he said.
The implementation framework is anchored on six pillars: Policy shift from Community Share Ownership Trusts to Community Economic Empowerment Trusts (CEETs), the One District One Community Economic Empowerment Trust (CEET) Initiative, Revenue Sharing, Rural Industrialisation and Local Enterprise Development, Governance and Administrative Framework and Institutional Capacity Building.
Deliberate efforts will be undertaken to ensure special interest groups such as women, youths, persons with disabilities, war veterans and small to medium enterprises provisions will be unchanged in this process.
In line with the development of rural communities, Dr Muswere said Cabinet noted progress regarding the implementation of the Binga Development Initiative, a brainchild of President Mnangagwa.
“The initiative resonates with the mantra, ‘Leaving No one and No Place Behind’.
“Progress to date includes the following: i. The ongoing construction of the Binga–Siakobvu–Karoi road. Upon completion, the road is poised to reduce the travelling distance from Harare to Binga via Karoi by 300 kilometres.
ii. Provision of potable water through the drilling of 74 boreholes and other ongoing works, such as the installation of 16 solarised boreholes at various sites for communities in the Binga District:
iii. Construction of additional buildings for staff and students’ welfare at the Binga Industrial Training College and the establishment of two additional Government boarding schools in the district;
iv. The establishment of the Binga School of Nursing, which is now at an advanced stage,” he said.
The construction of two new clinics at Mabobolo and Manyanda has been completed, as well as the rehabilitation of Binga District Mortuary and the donation of two ambulances by the President, while the establishment of the Binga Border Post is already at an advanced stage and actual construction is expected to commence in due course.
The construction of the Binga Civil Registry is 90 percent complete, while Sub-Offices have been established at Kariyangwe and Tyunga-Lunga Ward 1 in Binga District.
“The initiative is already addressing the lack of identification particulars for communities in Binga District,” said Minister Muswere.
The electrification of eight primary and secondary schools and 300 houses in Binga Township has also been completed, as well as the establishment of irrigation facilities close to Gwayi-Shangani and Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation.
The rehabilitation of the 1.1-kilometre Binga Airstrip has also been completed, while the resuscitation of Muchesu Mine, which was commissioned by the President, has so far been successful in attracting international capital investments, thereby unlocking employment opportunities for communities in the district.
The establishment of the Binga Town Board has also been completed, leading to improved governance of the district as well as the commissioning and distribution of kapenta fishing rigs to beneficiaries in Binga District.
Construction and commissioning of 37 Sungwale Disaster Recovery Houses and the establishment of the Binga Community radio station are complete.
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