Chronicle Editor
Nyore Madzianike in Gweru
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday led the Zanu-PF Presidium in a tree planting ceremony at the Midlands Convention Centre in Gweru on the sidelines of the ruling party’s 20th National People’s Conference.
This marked the official commencement of the country’s tree planting season. The President was also accompanied by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, who is the ruling party’s Secretary for Environment, and his two Vice-Presidents Dr Constantino Chiwenga and Cde Kembo Mohadi.
They were joined by the party’s Chairperson Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Secretary-General Dr Obert Mpofu and Midlands provincial chairperson Cde Larry Mavima in planting fever acacia trees (muunga). The exercise was led by the Forestry Commission.
Speaking after the ceremony, Forestry Commission operations manager Mr Lewis Radzira said: “The tree that has been planted by His Excellency is the tree of this year. It is commonly known as the fever acacia; it is one of our indigenous trees. It has got quite an array of uses. It’s a multi-purpose tree which we use for agroforestry, but apart from that, we have seen growing interest around it because of its beauty. It is one of the trees which we are championing for smart cities, so, if you move around the country, you will see that there is a high uptake of that indigenous tree.”
Mr Radzira said the muunga tree can also be incorporated into farming activities, since it acts like a legume by helping fix nitrogen in the soil. The tree, he said, grows well in all the country’s farming regions.
“It grows very well across the country, naturally, its ecology says that it grows well in semi-arid regions like Chiredzi and Matabeleland South,” he said.
After officially planting the trees, the Zanu-PF Presidium toured business stands exhibiting at the party’s business expo. A total of 58 exhibitors participated at the expo.
Bongani Ndlovu