adminHarare Bureau
NAMIBIAN Minister of Information and Communication Technology Tjekero Tweya has hailed President Mugabe’s education policy saying it has managed to keep Zimbabwe afloat despite economic challenges.
Speaking after touring Zimpapers and ZBC, Tweya urged Zimbabweans to capitalise on their education to fight the economic challenges. “One thing that President Mugabe did is that he invested in education for all Zimbabweans. That’s a strategic thing and I think it’s his lifetime commitment,” said Tweya.
“Believe me, I’ve been around sometime. Had it not been for that (education) Zimbabwe with all these challenges would have not been where it is today. This is why we still have three to four million Zimbabweans out there,” he said.
Tweya said some of the successful small to medium enterprises in Namibia were owned by Zimbabweans.
“The education that you have, you must capitalise on it.”
Tweya also urged African governments to make information accessible to their citizens to enable them to make informed decisions, saying they needed to know what the governments they voted into power were doing. “If they’re not happy after five years, they will make the same informed decision. But if they don’t have access to information in terms of the government programme, it will be difficult for them to judge the performance of the governments they have voted into power,” he said.
“Therefore, we must do everything we can to make that information accessible to them.”
Tweya first toured Herald House in the Harare CBD before he went to Natprint and Star FM.
At Herald House, he was briefed about the history of Zimpapers by the group chief executive Pikirayi Deketeke.
Deketeke gave a brief summary of the 12 newspapers, two magazines, two radio stations and a television station owned by the stable. He said in the past newspaper companies were not allowed by law to venture into electronic media.
Deketeke said after the laws were changed, Zimpapers was the first to own a commercial radio, Star FM.
“We’ve done well and we’re seeing a lot of opportunity in the electronic media. We’ve looked for opportunities and we will continue looking for opportunities,” he said.
The Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Technology and Courier Services, Cde Win Mlambo, said he was delighted by Tweya’s visit as this would strengthen relations between the two countries.
Online Reporter