Chronicle Editor
Mukudzei Chingwere and Blessings Chidakwa, Harare Bureau
Government has finished a geo-technical survey for a number of irregular urban dwellings which sprouted under the watch of inept opposition-led local authorities and will soon move workmen on the ground as efforts to regularise and bring order into these suburbs intensify, Acting President Dr Constantino Chiwenga has said.
Acting President Chiwenga said this when he addressed tens of thousands of ruling Zanu-PF supporters at Brooklyn Primary School in Caledonia, Goromonzi South Constituency yesterday.
Buoyant party supporters affirmed their allegiance to the ruling party and President Mnangagwa ahead of national polls slated for August 23.
Acting President Chiwenga said it was disheartening to note the living conditions the people of Caledonia had been subjected to by opposition elements and said President Mnangagwa was taking practical steps to have these shortcomings corrected.
He called on the electorate to resoundingly vote for President Mnangagwa and ruling party candidates so that the President could forge ahead with improving people’s lives to levels consistent with an empowered upper-middle income economy by 2030.
Just like Epworth which has started benefiting from the Presidential Title Deeds Scheme, Caledonia will soon get its turn together with several other suburbs in Harare and other cities and towns.
“The town planning around this area was bungled from the word go, so we want to see this reorganised properly,” said Acting President Chiwenga, “People must stay clear of high voltage transmission lines, we need to see where we build amenities like schools, hospitals, roads, industrial sites and all related amenities.
“Cabinet has already deliberated on this, as far back as last year, and we saw that the Surveyor-General’s department now needs technical assistance to undertake this scope of work.
“Our team from Higher and Tertiary Education undertook the task and they are done with Caledonia, Epworth, Harare South, Churu and many other towns and what remains now is for work to resume on the ground.
“You in Caledonia will get your title deeds just as we have started with some in Epworth. In the Second Republic, His Excellency the President has said no one should live in a home which they don’t own or which they don’t know who owns it legally.
“Be patient, your deeds are about to be delivered,” he said amid cheers from the crowd.
The Acting President also noted that land barons were part of the problem and took the occasion to warn those that may be tempted to engage in illegal parcelling of state land that the law will deal with them decisively.
He said against the background that the seat of Government and new city is soon moving to Mt Hampden, where the new Parliament has already been completed, Harare Metropolitan Province will be subdivided into smaller and easily manageable municipalities.
Caledonia, because of its proximity to Harare, he said, will not go rural but will be incorporated into the larger Metropolitan Province.
In order to fit in this urban matrix, Acting President Chiwenga said Caledonia will thus need to be developed and have all amenities consistent with what obtains in all urban set-ups in the country.
But before these elaborate plans start rolling, the Acting President said Government will immediately deploy graders to Caledonia so that they can tend to roads which are in very bad state.
Chairman of a local housing co-operative, Tongovilla Housing, in Caledonia, Cde Eliah Hamandishe implored residents to vote for Zanu-PF which is the party that prioritise residents’ aspirations.
Meanwhile, Zanu-PF Vice-President and Second Secretary Cde Kembo Mohadi addressed another rally in Mahuwe, Mbire district of Mashonaland Central Province, where he said the party was proud of what it had achieved so far and deserved another term in office under the visionary leadership of President Mnangagwa.
Cde Mohadi said the Government intended to complete remaining projects which were ongoing such as the Mbudzi road interchange project, the Kunzvi and Gwayi-Shangani Dam projects and several others spread in almost every district countrywide.
Addressing multitudes of Zanu-PF supporters, Cde Mohadi said: “We need your votes on August 23 in order to give our President and his team a fresh mandate to complete the good work he has started and fulfil his vision for the nation; that of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy by the year 2030.
“This is why we say vote for us. Vote President Mnangagwa, his MPs and councillors. Vote for development. Zanu-PF campaign for this election is development based. Isu hatisi kutaura ngano sotumwe tuma-party, kwete (We are not telling fairytales like other small parties). We are talking about development,” he said.
“Zanu-PF wishes for five more years to achieve wonders. The capacity is there for everyone to see.”
Cde Mohadi said when the Second Republic came into power, Zimbabwe was battling a litany of issues, among them hunger which had since been addressed as the country was now food secure.
“We agreed that we needed to construct dams and resuscitate and build new irrigation schemes throughout the country,” he said.
Cde Mohadi said several signature projects were then constructed or initiated such as Gwayi-Shangani, Tugwi-Mukosi, Muchekeranwa, Chivhu, Marovanyati and Kunzvi dams.
Cde Mohadi said among the projects that had benefited the province were the rehabilitation of irrigation schemes such as Mutondwe in Mt Darwin, Chitondwe (Bindura), Mwenje and Negomo in Mazowe district.
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