Vote ED to entrench benefits of new era

George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
Zimbabweans have been urged to vote overwhelmingly for President Mnangagwa in this year’s harmonised elections to further entrench unfolding socio-economic benefits brought by the new political dispensation in the country. Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Josaya Hungwe said President Mnangagwa deserved a fresh mandate to complete his mission of restoring socio-economic prosperity in Zimbabwe.

Sen Hungwe was speaking in Masvingo over the weekend during a provincial nation branding interactive dinner attended by representatives of both private and public companies drawn from various sectors in the province.

He said the new political dispensation was irreversible and would lead to unprecedented socio-economic development in Zimbabwe, spurred by renewed interest in the country by foreign investors following years of isolation.

‘‘My appeal to you, the people of Masvingo and the nation at large, is let us go out and vote in large numbers for President Mnangagwa in this year’s election so that he gets a fresh mandate to lead this country to socio-economic prosperity,’’ said Sen Hungwe.

‘‘There are positive signs that this great country has started to change for the better and the best thing we can do is to give President Mnangagwa a chance to roll out his vision for Zimbabwe.

“We must overwhelmingly vote for him in this year’s election and afford the President ample time to transform Zimbabwe into a great country again.’’

Sen Hungwe said Zimbabwe had potential for rapid socio-economic transformation in the short-term, as the country boasted of a rich human resource base coupled with natural resources that could be harnessed to engender socio-economic development.
He said President Mnangagwa’s administration had brought a new narrative of opening all the country’s economic frontiers to investment to stimulate socio-economic growth.

‘‘It is no longer business as usual, President Mnangagwa has been everywhere, including important fora such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he has openly told a captivated world audience that Zimbabwe is ready for business and that spirit should cascade to all levels so that we embark on the painstaking process of rebuilding our country,’’ said Sen Hungwe.

He said Masvingo had great potential to achieve socio-economic development that would be anchored on agricultural sector development, taking advantage of the province’s vast irrigation potential.

‘‘We have so many dams that can be tapped for irrigation to grow crops such as cotton, sugar cane and others,” said Sen Hungwe.

“The challenge is on us to find partners with resources to kick-start these projects, Masvingo is saying we are ready for business.

“We have big dams like Tokwe-Mukosi and there is even scope to build an even bigger dam at the confluence of Runde and Tende Rivers in Chivi. What we need are partners.’’

Sen Hungwe said the discovery of diamonds in Chivi was testimony that Masvingo was a rich province, even in terms of minerals.

‘‘Besides diamonds, we have rich lithium deposits in parts of Bikita and Gutu that have not been exploited, the potential is there,” he said. “We only need to put our heads together and develop our province and ultimately our country.’’

Sen Hungwe urged people in Masvingo to exploit opportunities abound in the Beitbridge-Harare Highway dualisation project, which would create hundreds of jobs.

Plans were also afoot to re-open Mashaba Asbestos Mine and resuscitate the mothballed Cold Storage Commission plant in the Masvingo industrial area, which Sen Hungwe said would accrue positive socio-economic spin-offs for the province.

Some of the speakers at the interactive dinner said there was need for both the civil service and private sector in the country to jettison the old mindset and adopt a new mentality focused on consolidating on the gains made after the advent of the new political dispensation.

They also said there was need for forward planning on huge projects such as the Tokwe-Mukosi Dam so that developments such as installation of a mini-hydro power plant could have been immediately undertaken.

Tokwe-Mukosi Dam was commissioned in May last year and the $300 million reservoir has not yet started benefiting the province significantly, save for supplying water for irrigating sugar cane plantations in the Lowveld.