PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday showed that he is a listening leader in touch with the people when he travelled by road from Bulawayo to Lupane and also returned by road in order to have a personal feel of the needs of communities and assess developmental work being carried out by government.
The President is usually flown but this time around is said
to have insisted that he would rather travel the 352 kilometre stretch to
Lupane and back by road so as to gain a personal appreciation of the needs of
the community.
He was going to officiate at the commissioning of the
Lupane water supply station and Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme acceleration
model.
This comes as the President has also given the green light
for the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement
to include rural development in its
portfolio, as the Government ups it rural development thrust.
Addressing delegates at the commissioning, President
Mnangagwa revealed that the name change, which is the second time this year
after Fisheries were also included in January, was after a special request from
the responsible Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka.
“As I recognise Minister Masuka, I must say that he has
requested that we add rural development to his portfolio of which I have
agreed. I must point out that this is the first time in all my years in
Government that a minister has actually come to me and requested a name change,”
said President Mnangagwa.
The President said rural development would remain at the
core of the Second Republic’s thrust noting that it was now up to everyone to
play a role in that regard.
“No one but ourselves will build our communities and our country. True empowerment and sustainable development will only be realised through greater participation of communities, especially women and youth in National development projects and programmes. As Zimbabweans, we are a hardworking and productive people. We will never be mere objects of charity. As the Second Republic, we will, thus continue to prudently use domestic resources to propel a development agenda which leaves no one, and no place behind, for the good of our people,” said the President.
He said under the Second Republic, the holistic completion
of development projects was key to spurring production, productivity and
profitability across all sectors of the economy. Speaking on the President’s
insistence on travelling by road to assess the needs of the Matabeleland North
province and progress on major developmental projects, Vice-President, Dr
Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care said
this was testament of his commitment towards all projects under the Second
Republic.
“Today, the guest of honour having travelled by road all
the way from Bulawayo, he did not fly, he said; ‘I want to see the problems
affecting people in Matabeleland North from their roads right up to their
projects’. So he travelled here by road, trying to pick up all the issues and
so he has now arrived to launch the Agriculture Rural Authority Vision 2030
accelerator model programme,” said Vice-President Chiwenga.
In his address, Minister Masuka said his ministry was now
engrossed with rural development and would ensure that most projects that they
embark on will have a bearing towards the country’s endeavour of Vision 2030.
“Your vision for this country to become a prosperous and
empowered upper-middle class economy by 2030 is gaining the much needed
traction every day. Your Excellency, under your guidance the Bubi-Lupane Dam is
no longer the project. We used to build a dam, commission and celebrate but now
the dam is now part of the broader projects and not the project. The project is
rural development for the attainment of Vision 2030 and in the agricultural
space, the components are dam construction, irrigation development, electricity
generation, provision of drinking water and fisheries development, the
Bubi-Lupane Dam has now achieved the two of the five aspects,” said Dr Masuka.
He revealed that the Zimbabwe National Water Authority
(Zinwa) will soon transform and not only focus on provision of water to mainly
towns and cities but was also angling towards provision of water to rural
communities.
“The ministry is also accelerating parastatal reforms.
Zinwa currently provides water to towns, cities, growth points and rural
service centres but has never ventured into providing water for our villages,
this left 70 percent of our population vulnerable.
“Zinwa now has an expanded mandate and 40 drilling rigs are
going to be purchased for Zinwa so that they can provide water to the 35 000 villages we have in the country, all the
9 600 schools and an additional 3 600 youth centres in various wards,” he said.Dr
Masuka said Zinwa will also deal with irrigation conveyance working together
with the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) to accelerate
rural development which must cause rural industrialisation. Sunday News
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