We must deliver: Nduna

Walter Nyamukondiwa Mash West Bureau
ZANU-PF Mashonaland West province intends to use its dominance in all the province’s political structures including the Provincial Council to realise tangible economic development.

In an interview, party provincial vice chairperson Cde Dexter Nduna said the province wants to ensure that the Provincial Council and all Government departments effectively operationalise the devolution of power.

He said the move by President Mnangagwa to open up democratic space in the party and the country had led to the injection of new blood.

This, he said had stripped some people who were claiming to have ‘title deeds’ in Parliament and councils of those rights.

“We have more than two thirds majority in both Parliamentary and local authorities seats in the province,” he said. “We are hoping to leverage on our majority in rural district councils especially where we have Share Ownership Trusts so that we can use the ubiquitous amount of mineral wealth for the benefit of our people.”

He said new blood would ensure the party and Government deliver on development.

“We had over 20 candidates vying for the presidency in the harmonised elections, which speaks to an open democratic space. There were some people who had been claiming that they have title deeds to Parliament and had taken it to be permanent employment. We have new blood including technocrats,” he said.

The province’s resources, he said, should benefit the communities and the province before they can benefit others outside.

President Mnangagwa is on record saying provinces should work to develop their own Gross Domestic Product, which would then feed into the national GDP.

“We want to translate the political advantage into economic advantage. We want to direct our councils towards making sure that they play a part in fostering development and the exploitation of resources,” he said. Zanu-PF won 158 council seats out of 231 and 18 Parliamentary seats out of 22 in the province which saw it getting four out of six Provincial Council seats.

The party, he said intends to tap into the zoning of areas in terms of what they produce under the Special Economic Zones framework.

“I believe we are positioned to be at the heart of infrastructure development in the country because the bulk of goods pass through the province via the North-South corridor,” he said.