The Sunday News
Vincent Gono, Features Editor
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has demonstrated a sincere willingness to extend a listening ear and a readiness to tackle the problems of Matabeleland wrought by history as he rallies the country towards attainment of unity through infrastructure development that is responsive to the needs of communities, a former Zapu chairman has said.
In an interview with the Sunday News, former Zapu chairman who is also a member of the Zanu-PF Politburo Cde Richard Maduke Ndlovu said President Mnangagwa’s development trajectory was grounded in the reality of people’s concerns, wants and troubles.
He said the President was no stranger to what needed to be done in Matabeleland as a region and his policies were laid out clearly in the country’s economic blueprint, the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) which he said was being followed with detailed discipline.
He said it was fascinating that the new political dispensation hit the ground running by taking up, funding and setting achievable completion timelines for all the stalled projects in the region that separated it from the rest of the country and left its communities feeling neglected.
“Capital projects such as the Gwayi-Shangani Dam which is an important part of the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP) were capacitated and work has resumed in earnest. We are happy with the progress and hope that by next year it will be complete,” he said.
The project, he said, was going to arrest the relocation and closure of industry in Bulawayo that was no longer a preferred investment destination owing to the perennial water shortages.
“We hope to see Bulawayo coming back to life. The city should reclaim its former status as the country’s industrial hub and there are positive pointers to the attainment of that vision. Industries are starting to respond to the positive developments in the city and very soon they will be thriving.”
He said a number of road projects that were stalled because of funding challenges owing to sanctions and were no longer trafficable were being worked on linking the region to the rest of the country. Cde Ndlovu said it was the new dispensation that brought about an open dialogue around the issues of Gukurahundi with a view to allow people to release bottled up emotions so that healing could take place and let the country move together united and in peace.
“Prior to the new dispensation, people never used to talk about such issues as Gukurahundi and when they do, it was in hushed tones. The closure of the chapter had been forced on people but President Mnangagwa opened it up and engaged with the affected communities through various stakeholders including traditional leaders,” said Cde Ndlovu.
He said President Mnangagwa was a man of very few words and immense action who has kept his hands on the deck as a stalwart of the struggle and who also recognised the contribution of Zapu and Zipra in the liberation struggle and doesn’t look down upon anyone. He said it was his expressed desire for the people to move together in unity where no-one was left behind and where communities own and control their development priorities as the country fulfils the Constitutional provision on devolution .
“It is unfortunate that some of the senior members who used to drive development on behalf of the people have died. Some got too carried away and lost track. They joined the current Zapu but unfortunately, it has no marrow to stand up in the national political matrix,” he said.
