AS the country heads towards 2023 harmonised elections, President Mnangagwa has urged Zimbabweans to preserve the ongoing development momentum being spearheaded by the Second Republic by voting for the ruling party, Zanu-PF.
Through comprehensive reforms undertaken since the ushering
in of the New Dispensation in 2017, the country is slowly reclaiming its space
in the global community of progressive nations.
Numerous high-impact investments covering different sectors
of the economy are being harnessed amid innovative strides being made by higher
and tertiary learning centres, robust infrastructure development projects and
increasing domestic production.
These are some of the tangible exhibits of the Zanu-PF
Government’s determined drive towards creating more job opportunities and
improving ordinary people’s livelihoods.
Addressing thousands of people who came to meet him and
witness the official commissioning of 18 Public Service Commission (PSC) buses
at Pelandaba Stadium in Gwanda, Matabeleland Province on Thursday, the
President said despite the continued imposition of Western sanctions, Zimbabwe
was on a transformative drive.
He said the US$67 million Central Shaft Expansion and the
US$14 million 12,2 megawatts solar projects, which he officially commissioned
at Blanket Mine, were some of the prime success stories showing that indeed
“Zimbabwe is Open for Business”.
Already, the investment has positioned the parent company,
Caledonia Mining Corporation, to increase output to about 80 000 ounces per
annum while employment levels have been pushed to above 1 600 workers from 500
with revenues increasing from US$123 million per annum to more than US$148
million per annum.
The mining sector alone is projected to clock about US$8
billion in earnings this year from US$5,3 billion last year, according to
official reports, which is a huge margin compared to about $2,1 billion when
the Second Republic came into being.
Despite adverse climate change impacts, recent Government
reports show that growing public and private sector investments towards
transforming the agriculture industry have seen the sector surpassing the
US$8,2 billion milestone target set under the National Development Strategy
(NDS1-2021-2025), ahead of time.
Under the Second Republic Zimbabwe is driving massive
coal-to-energy development projects with the US$1,4 billion Hwange Power
Station Units 7 and 8 expansion nearing completion.
According to the Zimbabwe Power Company, the first unit is
set to come on stream this month, injecting 300 megawatts into the national
grid while the other 300 megawatts is set for completion early next year.
Several investments in coal-to-coke processing have been
established in the Hwange area, Matabeleland North province, which have
bolstered mining output and export earnings with massive job opportunities
along the value chain.
President Mnangagwa said the Lake Gwayi-Shangani
construction, a key project meant to solve Bulawayo’s water problem and boost
irrigation farming in Matabeleland region, has been in limbo through successive
administrations from 1912 and only took off under the Second Republic, which
has channelled more Treasury resources to steer its steady progress to about 44
percent to date.
Zimbabwe is also on the cusp of being a key oil-to-gas
energy player in the region with the Australian Invictus Energy firm indicating
improved commercially viable findings at its Muzarabani oil and gas exploration
project.
Through enhanced diplomatic relations with China, for
instance, the Second Republic has also witnessed the completion of the new
Parliament building in Harare, constructed for US$100 million funding from
Beijing.
Realising that the future of the world is anchored on
science and technology, President Mnangagwa said his Government has championed
the Education 5.0 policy to ensure Zimbabwe develops its economy through
knowledge-based approaches by its people in line with the philosophy “Ilizwe
lakhiwa ngabaninilo/Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo”.
He implored entrepreneurs, established businesses and
students in colleges and universities to embrace science/technology to develop
and register new products and services that contribute more to economic growth.
Given such development milestones and many more recorded in
the last five years, President Mnangagwa said Zimbabweans should reflect on
these deliverables as an indicator of his administration’s commitment to propel
Zimbabwe to greater heights.
“Every five years we hold general elections as a country in
line with the Constitution and come next year by July or August we must go back
to the people and seek another mandate from them to lead the country,” he said.
“We have already held our party congress last month and I
am happy to say all the 10 provinces were happy to say that in the last five
years the party has made great strides in instructing the Government to focus
on serious issues of national development.
“So, for the last five years, your Zanu-PF Government has
succeeded in delivering tangible development.”
President Mnangagwa told the bumper crowd that transforming
the country could only be done by capable, informed and knowledgeable
leadership as opposed to puppet opposition formations.
He said Zimbabwe was suffering from Western sanctions as
punishment for choosing to be independent and asserting its autonomy when it
embarked on the Land Reform Programme at the turn of the millennium.
“We’ve then said as Zanu-PF we must not cry because of
these sanctions but look internally and, using our resources, develop our
country brick by brick and stone upon stone,” he said.
Instead of relying on imports, President Mnangagwa said the
Second Republic has taken steps to produce its food, for instance. He referred
to the success in substituting wheat imports this winter season where Zimbabwe
has achieved huge success in producing 14 months’ supply through boosting local
production.
“This is what we are doing as the Second Republic so that
you are happy in your country. So, it’s on the basis of depending on what we
ourselves can do,” said the President.
“We are constructing our own roads and this time around it
is local contractors and local engineers who are championing the projects. We
have started with the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Highway.”
He said using local
contractors was beneficial as it has cut the cost of this highway from the
initial estimated US$2 billion by foreign contractors to about US$600 million
by local professionals and companies.
President Mnangagwa said despite sanctions Zimbabwe has
also made breakthroughs in producing its own medical accessories including
medical oxygen for hospitals while rural industrialisation has also been
introduced to empower communities at grassroots level.
“This is how other countries have developed through
developing their own products. We are also driving rural industrialisation,
which is producing more local goods, we are leaving no one behind. Our
agriculture is also transforming and we are mechanising,” he said.
“I can go on and on to tell you what we are discovering and
developing. Next week I will be in Tsholotsho to commission a village solar
project for 69 villages and we shall replicate the same in other villages
across the country.
“So, whatever you are doing, do it with full commitment, we
must work and develop our country with the resources given us by God.”
The President then urged all Zimbabweans to register to
vote in large numbers in next year’s harmonised elections saying the ruling
party should garner resounding victory.
“Zanu-PF as the only party that brought independence to
this country, has national interests at heart. Let’s uphold values of peace,
tolerance and unity among ourselves as we gear towards the elections,” he said.
Chronicle
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