He said even as the country breaks for the festive season,
cabinet ministers are expected to be ready to render services where need
arises.
Yesterday, President Mnangagwa chaired the last cabinet
session of this calendar year, but even with the spirit of festivities in the
air, he said ministries should remain open to render services to the people,
who overwhelmingly voted for Zanu-PF in the August elections.
“In 2023, it was displeasing that some items were not
discussed due to non-submission of the relevant Cabinet Memoranda, this was, in
spite of having been proposed for consideration by Ministers. Such oversights
or dereliction of duty should not be repeated in the coming year.
“Another critical area of concern is the increasing
tendency by some Ministers to table substantive matters under “Any Other
Business”. This practice must stop. Equally, the late submission of Cabinet
Memoranda is retrogressive to constructive debate and to good administration,
transparency, collective responsibility and accountability. Please adequately
liaise with the Chief Secretary on such matters and be guided accordingly”.
In this regard, the President, who has adopted a scientific
approach to governance which is underlined by performance based contracts for
ministers to foster a high-performance culture, said ministers must
self-evaluate.
“Be advised that, going forward, you are called upon to
regularly undertake critical and succinct self-evaluation of programmes and
projects under your portfolios, to inform focused and co-ordinated programming.
“The expectations on us to deliver are high after the new
mandate to govern bestowed on us by the electorate in the August 2023
Harmonized General Elections. We must not be found wanting in this regard,” he
said.
In line with this thrust the President said ministers must
take the Christmas break to seriously look into matters which they wish to
table during the forthcoming session, which should be aligned with the broad
Government Vision.
Building on achievements made by the Second Republic, which
have seen the country’s economy growing, at the fastest rate in the region, the
President said work is cut out for cabinet ministers and that there is no room
for complacency under his watch.
“While much work lies ahead; we must continuously do more
in our quest to modernise, industrialise and grow our economy while improving
the quality of life for our people.
“The growth of the economy notwithstanding, all Ministries
must work harder for the achievement of impactful results in our various
programmes and projects.
“As such, the Cabinet must now accelerate the
implementation of National Development Strategy 1 so that our National Vision
2030 of ‘’an empowered and prosperous upper-middle income society’, is attained
much earlier. Your work is therefore cut out for you.
“Hence, Cabinet recess does not mean that we close our
offices completely, Government business must not be disrupted and your
availability to attend to issues, remain integral,” the President said.
Although the country went for elections mid-year there were
no hiccups in Government operations, attesting to the Second Republic spirit of
continuity, and that is the same spirit expected during the holiday break.
“This is testimony that our country continues to entrench
constitutionalism, deepen democratic practices and improve bureaucratic
efficiencies as we march forward towards Vision 2030 guided by our development
philosophy, “Nyika inovakwa, inotongwa, inonamatigwa nevene vayo. Ilizwe
lakhiwa, libuswe, likhulekelwe ngabanikazi balo” the President said.
Following Zanu-PF triumph in the August harmonised
elections, expectations from the people are high and the Second Republic will
maintain the development momentum that was overwhelmingly endorsed by the
nation through vote.
“In terms of the specific Cabinet programmes, I am
reasonably satisfied that we were able to go through most items set for this
session. We should be able to conclude outstanding matters as soon as we
resume.
“Meanwhile, it is heartening to note that we completed all
the Mid-Term Reports on the Third 100-Day Cycle Priority Projects, despite the
changes in the nomenclature of various ministerial portfolios.
“This shows the continuity inherent in Government programming under the Second Republic”. Herald
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