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Mukudzei Chingwere and Peter Matika
The Second Republic under President Mnangagwa is seized with creating an enabling environment for people to succeed in their economic activities and the populace should sleeve-up to play its part for the development of families and the economy, Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga has said.
He said this when he addressed thousands of Zanu PF supporters at Mataga Business Centre in Mberengwa East Constituency, who gathered to affirm their support for the ruling party and President Mnangagwa ahead of the harmonised elections on August 23.
VP Chiwenga said for these plans to succeed, the first and compelling condition was for people to turn up on August 23 and resoundingly uphold national self-determination through a vote for President Mnangagwa and ruling party candidates.
The VP said President Mnangagwa has taken it upon himself to complete the liberation struggle assignments of the revolutionary Zanu PF party through delivering economic development to locals.
All this was to ensure that people got the life comfort they deserved through the attainment of an empowered upper-middle income economy by 2030.
VP Chiwenga said thousands of life changing projects delivered by the Second Republic in President Mnangagwa’s first term in office were a step towards the fulfilment of the said economic gains and these would be escalated in the President’s second term.
The VP also noted activities around last year’s lithium rush in Mberengwa particularly around Sandawana Mine where locals were hugely disenfranchised, but said Government would soon institute corrective measures.
He said those that lost their mining equipment would get their equipment back and the Ministry of Mines had been tasked with seeing how best locals could be organised into groups to orderly exploit the resource for their benefit.
“Government’s plan is to make sure that every village gets at least a borehole for people’s use. Here in Mberengwa East Constituency, we have already pegged 41 boreholes to be drilled over and above what you already have,” said VP Chiwenga.
“Government now has 80 diamond borehole drilling rigs and we are still buying more so that we can have them stationed in districts scaling up on this program.
“Once that is done, we know that there won’t be hunger and poverty. There is no place nor person who should be left behind in this like what our President, His Excellency Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa, is always saying.
“What we will then encourage each other is that people must roll up their sleeves, do away with laziness, and gear up for work.
“For us to beat poverty and hunger, our roads must be worked on. Here in this area Government is seized with attending to several roads including Mberengwa to West Nicholson which then leads to the main road to Beitbridge.
“Some of the roads that we have already worked on include Mberengwa Centre to Mnene Mission and Mataga. We have also worked on the Mataga to Ngungumbane to Zvishavane road. We also want to expedite the construction of Mwenezi Bridge.
“I am aware that last year there was a lithium rush here at Sandawana Mine, we know some even came and started collecting money from you saying they were organising you into mining units. We are aware of this and it will not die a natural death. We will address the issue.”
“Some of you lost your mining equipment which was taken away. That equipment must and will be returned to you. What we want to fix going forward, working together with the local leadership and the Ministry of Mines is whether we organise in the same manner we did with gold through gold centres,” he said.
He said the Midlands Province, which Mberengwa falls under, was endowed with a number of high value minerals and Government was in the process of scaling up frameworks to make sure the province recouped the best possible value from these minerals.
VP Chiwenga said mines in the province like Murowa Diamonds, Mimosa Mining Company, Zimasco and Unki had all been set on expansion projects under the Second Republic.
He also spoke about impending economic spin offs that will accrue from the Manhize Iron and steel plant, and called on locals to play their part in this development.
He also decried a practice by some major mining houses that harm the environment and roads and said this would however become a thing of the past as the President had directed the relevant ministries to fix community infrastructure that they also used.
Zanu PF party parliamentary candidate for Mberengwa East Cde Tasara Hungwe said Zanu PF was poised for victory thanks to the Second Republic’s developmental work.
“Government has embarked on several economic enabling activities aimed at improving people’s lives. Here we have benefited from schools, hospitals, irrigation schemes, roads among other projects,” said Cde Hungwe.
“Here in Mberengwa East Constituency, it’s a foregone conclusion that we are romping to victory.”
In Bulawayo, Zanu PF Vice President Cde Kembo Mohadi told party supporters that the city must be part of the national journey towards the realisation of Vision 2030 targets through voting for the ruling party.
He said Zanu PF would ensure the continued industrial revival and implementation of transformative development projects. The City of Kings was already a beneficiary of some of the top projects implemented by the Second Republic in the last five years.
Since 2018 Bulawayo had successfully completed 163 signature projects out of 230 as of December 2022 with the Second Republic committing to further accelerate the modernisation of the city.
Under President Mnangagwa’s leadership, the second-largest city had received increased Government attention resulting in improved re-industrialisation, entrepreneurship growth, research and development, critical infrastructure projects rollout as well as interventions to redress pressing service delivery issues, among others.
The construction and completion of the US$17 million students’ accommodation complex near the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) through the Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ), was among the top projects. The complex has the capacity to accommodate 1 032 students.
Addressing multitudes who attended the Zanu PF rally adjacent to Chigumira Shopping Centre in Luveve, Cde Mohadi said the development momentum would be further scaled up when President Mnangagwa and other ruling party candidates romped to victory come August 23 elections.
He appealed to the masses to bury the failed opposition and, like other provinces, rally behind the ruling party so as to deliver an upper middle-income economy dream by 2030.
“For the past 20 to 23 years, you have been at loggerheads with your local leadership in the council. Instead of bringing development and striving towards developing the city, they have turned it into a nightmare,” said Cde Mohadi.
“This is not what we want as the ruling party. You see now that the opposition-led councils have brought nothing but the lagging behind of this beautiful city.
“In the past, city projects were driven by community projects such as communal bars. The money that was raised there was channelled towards the city’s development, but now some of these councillors have taken and turned those bars into their own entities to get rich. That is thievery, and it must come to an end. You will not see this if you vote for Zanu-PF.”
Stressing the need to embrace peace, unity, and harmony during the election season, Cde Mohadi said a massive vote for the ruling party would ensure continuing of all the key projects while more will be done as Zimbabwe gears towards Vision 2030.
“In Bulawayo in particular, your Zanu PF-led government by President Mnangagwa is engaged in a number of projects. Some of the projects include the revival of National Blankets, Cold Storage Commission (CSC), the rehabilitation and refurbishment of the National Railways of Zimbabwe, production boost in companies such as Treger Group of companies, Archer Clothing, United Refineries, Datlabs, and Kango Products,” he said.
“We have also facilitated the rehabilitation of the Bulawayo Old Gwanda Road and Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road. The Second Republic has also modernised the Beitbridge Border Post and the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport,” said Cde Mohadi.
“This is the time to send a strong message to our detractors. Let us show them that Zanu PF is a people’s party. We expect you to vote wisely, especially our first-time voters.”
He said Zanu PF had already been granted a head start given the fumbling and confusion in the opposition camps, which have failed to field candidates in several constituencies while in those that they are participating, they fielded double candidates.
He said the ruling party’s vision was centred on development and attaining a middle-income economy by the year 2030.
Online Reporter