Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Online Reporter
Zanu-PF supporters have started flocking to the venue of the Presidential star rally at Nkayi Business Centre in Matabeleland North Province on Sunday.
President Mnangagwa will address the gathering.
The ruling party is gearing up for the harmonised elections on August 23.
The Nkayi Presidential rally at the Nkayi Sports Arena will be a historic one as it will be the first of its kind in the district that gave birth to some of the country’s luminaries inclusive of late national hero, Cde Welshman Hadana Mabhena, Cde Lalatshona Ndebele and former Zanu-PF Member of Parliament for Nkayi Constituency and one of the pioneering groups of freedom fighters, Cde John Maluzo Ndlovu. Cde Ndlovu escaped the hangman’s noose after being captured near Harare in the 1960s.
A gala to commemorate the late Vice President John Landa Nkomo will be held after the Presidential Star Rally.
It is a sea of red, yellow and green as the relatively quiet Nkayi Business centre is a hive of activity as scores of people in Zanu PF party regalia are thronging the venue.
The First Secretary is on a whirlwind campaign trail drumming up supporters for Zanu-PF around the country.
Aspiring councillors and Members of the House of Assembly are also part of the proceedings as they await to meet President Mnangagwa.
Some of the projects that has seen Nkayi District include Ziminya Dam project where a total of 200 local workers have been recruited and the dam is expected to be a game-changer in terms of transforming livelihoods.
Situated at about 20km west of the Nkayi Growth Point near Shangani River, the dam was pegged in 1953 and construction effectively commenced after the Second Republic availed funding for the project, which is now 22 percent complete and is progressing well.
With a capacity to hold 97 million cubic meters of water, the dam and all related projects surrounding it are set for completion in 2025 and would go a long way towards resolving water supply challenges for Nkayi Centre, energize irrigation farming, and other related projects along the value chain.
Regarded as the second biggest dam in Matabeleland North Province after Lake Gwayi Shangani, Ziminya Dam is expected to have a mini hydro-electricity plant that would provide power for the growing Nkayi urban.
Government estimates indicate the dam will have a 36-meter-high wall at completion and would attract a lot of economic activities including the establishment of a 1 225-hectare irrigation scheme in wards 18,19 and 28. This is expected to promote massive food production and improve livelihoods for the immediate community and beyond.
For a number of decades, Matabeleland North Province was regarded as one of the marginalised provinces in the country where its communities have been presented as poverty stricken with basic infrastructure development such as hospitals, schools, colleges, roads and even universities maintaining baby steps.
However, with the coming in of the Second Republic, the province has witnessed accelerated development bringing the province at par with others through provision of state-of-the-art infrastructure.
This has seen the province having 669 projects embarked on with 435 completed and 234 soon to be completed.
The President will kickstart his itinerary with a Star Rally at Nkayi Business Centre today. Tomorrow he will be commissioning Muchesu Coking Coal Project in Binga District followed by the commissioning of Hwange Thermal Power Station units 7 and 8 on Thursday.
Muchesu Mine belongs to London Alternative Investment (AIM) listed miner- Contango Holdings and is targeting to produce 20 000 tonnes of washed coking coal a month.
The mining house started production recently and is one of the transformative developmental strides in the province given its impact on jobs, community development and downstream industries.
For the Hwange Thermal Power Station units 7 and 8 expansion project, the Government has spent $1,4 billion, with the project being one of the flagship projects being implemented by the Second Republic to improve power generation and support the country’s industrialisation and modernisation programme.
Units 7 and 8 are already feeding 600MW into the national grid, with load-shedding becoming a thing of the past in the country.
Online Reporter