Chronicle EditorLeonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
THE Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities, Cde Daniel Garwe, has said there is a need to prioritise rural communities when planning housing projects as this is key in the quest to achieve meaningful development.
He was speaking at the Shelter Afrique annual general meeting held in Victoria Falls last week as he assumed chairmanship of the Pan-African finance organisation’s Bureau for the next one year.
Minister Garwe takes over from Cameroon Minister of Housing and Urban Development Celestine Ketcha Courtes.
He said modern sustainable and decent houses with access to clean water, sanitation and other amenities in rural areas should top Governments’ development agenda in Africa if prospects of effective development are to be realised.
More than 56 million people in the continent are in need of housing and many live in shacks, according to the Shelter Afrique research arm, Centre of Excellence.
While Zimbabwe under the Second Republic has taken the route of delivering affordable and quality settlements in urban and rural areas as one of core targets to improve access to affordable and quality housing and social amenities under the National Development Strategy (NDS1), Minister Garwe said little focus is being given to rural areas across the continent.
“Our people are tired of political rhetoric and expect nothing short of a decent, affordable and sustainable shelter that is sustainable to climatic change and brings human dignity above their heads. We need to consider the plight of the rural communities. This is what can bring development in Africa.
I know we all focus on urban areas but it is my passion that we focus our trajectory on developing rural economies through provision of decent housing. We all started from rural areas hence we need to ensure they have access to clean water, sanitation, accommodation, food and everything. It is one area which I think during my tenure as chair for one year we should focus our energies on.”
Minister Garwe paid tribute to his predecessor for making significant strides despite the peculiar challenges that Africa faces, some of them existence of terrorism, informal settlements and lack of financing among others. He challenged member states and shareholders to have a check list of commitments as African Governments to implement the Younde Declaration.
“We should ask ourselves how prepared we are. Most housing projects target the elite and urbanites, so we need to spend time raising finances for rural housing,” he said.
The Minister called for practical sustainable home grown solutions especially in housing considering that Africa has abundant untapped resources. He reminded member states indebted to Shelter Afrique to pay up for good governance. The Minister pledged to have an open door policy during his tenure saying he will guide with wisdom that is required to stir Shelter Afrique to a financial institution with a good standing to attract funding.
-@ncubeleon
Online Reporter