The Sunday News
Vincent Gono
THE surge towards the achievement of value addition and beneficiation in the country indeed originated in the early nationalist heroes such as the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Nkomo and his counterpart President Mugabe.
It was then taken up, sanctified and made a dream come true by the current generation of politicians as ensconced and espoused in the national economic blueprint — Zim Asset.
Political late comers however, believe that the idea of value addition was mooted by them yet visionaries that were there before them had it in mind.
The idea wasn’t touted and put in black and white as part of policy but there is more than sufficient evidence to point to that especially when one looks at the development projects that were initiated by the late Father Zimbabwe who passed away on 1 July 1999.
Dr Nkomo’s death, like that of other iconic figures, was both mourned and celebrated nationally and internationally, for like all legends he did not die, he departed. Zanu-PF spokesman Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo who worked closely with him says of the late father Zimbabwe, “Dr Nkomo indeed deserves a special place in history as the man who fathered revolutionary politics in Zimbabwe. A visionary of note, he provided the brick and mortar for the creation of a united country.”
He like Mazzini in the unification of Italy was the man from where a united country was born. That fact alone deserves recognition. Cde Khaya Moyo said through his development projects, Dr Nkomo was the architect of the beneficiation and value addition crusade that the country is running with now.
The projects, he said were strategically economic and strategic in their location and sought to stretch and unravel the great economic potential that the country has that the late Father Zimbabwe had realised.
He should be hallowed not only for the part he played in liberating the country and bringing the country’s tribes at peace with each other but for his selflessness as he always looked at the greater national good — the broader picture at the very expense of his person and his ego as one of the founders of the revolution.
Dr Nkomo never lost focus of the land issue, itself among the prime causes of the liberation struggle and was a proponent of hard work.
“Nxa lifuna imali, phendulelani ibala elithi mali, lithi lima,” he would say. Although he died just a year shy of the beginning of the land reform, Dr Nkomo was indeed one man who wanted to see land being given to the black majority and his projects all point to that grand vision.
He was a national leader who was not restricted by regional boundaries but he knew too well that he was Zimbabwean before anything else and therefore even his tribe could not contain him as his vision cut across trivial tribal and regional politics.
Projects such as the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP), Gwayi- Shangani Dam, Mtshabezi pipeline project, Ekusileni Medical Centre, Esigodini and Norton tomato puree canning plants, timber logging in Muzarabani, Tea and coffee project in Vumba and a mining project in Penhalonga and other Development Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ) were initiated by Dr Nkomo.
Some of projects in the country have been moving at a snail’s pace while some have been lying dormant due to various conspiring political and economic factors. Politicians in the region said the problems affecting most of the projects that were initiated by Dr Nkomo were both economic and political in nature.
Minister of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development who was the Minister of State in Dr Nkomo’s office Cde Sithembiso Nyoni chronicled in an interview with this paper how most of the developmental projects were started and their objectives.
She said most of the projects have a national outlook and were a direct response to the concerns of the ordinary people of Zimbabwe and meant to benefit the entire population and poor communities. Minister Nyoni said Dr Nkomo’s projects were not regional but national as the Development Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ) established projects in Masvingo Province in the Nuanetsi Ranch of Mwenezi district where there were a number of cattle, a coffee plantation in the Vumba area in Manicaland Province and another tomato puree project in Norton and a mining project in Penhalonga.
The Tomato Puree plants were established in Norton and another in Esigodini. The idea was to produce tomatoes and process them for the local market and for export. The Esigodini plant, had it been a success, was also going to produce mangoes, peaches, guavas and even lemon puree after the realisation that the fruits were abundant and were rotting when people could make money out of them.
Minister Nyoni said her ministry had since taken up of the Esgodini project to bring to fruition the late Father Zimbabwe’s dream and vision. She said the Esigodini project was also going to see the development of a big irrigation scheme for large scale production of tomatoes where water was going to come from Mtshabezi Dam.
She said the project in the Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi was meant to promote livestock and crop production as well as improve the livelihood of the communities that borders the ranch.
Minister Nyoni said the project thrived during the early years and was greatly affected by the drought that hit the country in the early 90s where most of the cattle in the ranch succumbed to drought.
“I remember very well that most of the projects were started when I was working as Minister of State in his office. He had a national vision and he was already looking at beneficiation and value addition. He used to sit with President Mugabe and share notes. I would say the two were great men with a great national development vision which they used to share so much.
“You would notice that the value addition crusade that the country is pursuing now was already in Dr Nkomo’s vision when he initiated the Esigodini and Norton tomato puree plants as well as the tea and coffee in Manicaland. His vision was to set the processing equipment so that we value add and not export the tea, coffee, tomatoes and other fruits in their raw form.
“The projects were supposed to benefit the communities in those areas. So what he would do was to identify the abundant resource in an area and support the communities to get something out of the resources that would transform their lives,” she said.
On the Nuanetsi Ranch she said there were enough cattle and they used to send bulls to the communities that surround the ranch for cross breeding so that poor communities improve on their breeds after it was realised that the area was part of a fertile cattle breeding region.
“The other idea that Dr Nkomo had was to promote small-scale sugarcane growing so that the communities will compete with bigger sugarcane producers such as the ones that are in Chiredzi. The thrust however, was that the communities should benefit, no-matter how poor they were so that they transform their lives and aid the national economic development discourse.
“There is a big investor that we partnered with but he diverted the state of the whole project. The initial objectives of the project were therefore frustrated. The communities are no longer benefiting as they are supposed to. It is almost a private business venture now,” she said.
It is however, understood that at one time DTZ entered into a partnership with some Russians where they were mining gold in Penhalonga. Sadly however, almost three quarters of the projects that were implemented by the late Dr Nkomo are not fully functional or have completely ceased operations. Most of the work done by the late Father Zimbabwe was being neglected at the expense of the poor communities who were initially excited about the projects that were aimed at improving their standards of living.
The Norton plant was some years ago up and running but the Esigodini one never took off despite the importation of expensive equipment from Italy that was gathering dust and rust at the Arda Balu Estate in Umguza for more than 15 years now.
Minister Nyoni said they were now in the process of reviving or resuscitating the project although part of the equipment was broken and needed spare parts. Some of the equipment sourced by Dr Nkomo for timber logging operations in Matabeleland North was auctioned by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) on allegations that DTZ had failed to pay customs duty.
The now National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project is one other project that the late Vice-President became an important part of but despite several strides having been made to get water from Zambezi to the drought prone region, the project has remained a pipedream and an illusion to those who worked to realise its fruits.
It is sad that almost a century now the project has only taken shape on paper while on the ground there is little to show seriousness in the implementation of the giant project that would have seen the establishment of a greenbelt where a good number of communities were going benefit from irrigation.
On Ekusileni Medical Centre she said it was a brilliant idea that had taken too long to complete. She said the concept was to establish as state-of-the-art diagnostic centre with all the modern medical equipment where even people from the countryside were to get treatment without paying with an arm and a leg. Minister Nyoni said it was sad that the centre had become a white elephant.
“It is sad that we cannot talk of the projects as a success. Most of his projects are not a success story that depicts the true picture of his stature. It is unfortunate. The people who he worked with on several projects have no capacity to continue while some got frustrated and ignored some of the big national and regional projects.
“It is very sad indeed and everyone who worked with Dr Nkomo and who appreciates his vision should be worried,” she said.
Dr Nkomo was a visionary who sourced the funds and most of the equipment for Ekusileni specialist hospital but the project had been plagued by problems that have for many years stalled its opening. Ekusileni therefore remains a dream that the nation has conspired to kill as its continued closure is worrying although there has been some activity lately.
