The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
BULAWAYO Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Cde Judith Ncube has urged women and youths to join forces and work together to revive the Bulawayo industries.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the International Women’s Day in Bulawayo on Friday, Cde Ncube said collective effort was required to rebuild the city to regain its lost status.
“Collective effort and everyone’s input will surely make a difference in making Bulawayo great again. We need to come up with a way that we are going to map together.
“If we succeed, we celebrate together and if we fail, we fail as a group and there won’t be any finger-pointing. If we put our heads together and get serious, we can regain the status of our city,” said Cde Ncube.
She said it was important for the youths to network and brainstorm ideas that they would deliver to her so that she can take them to higher offices.
“There is a need to maximise on networking, support each other and don’t compete against each other.
“As young people conduct research, collaborate in thinking and invite us to access the problems which you believe are major challenges.
“We will take them to Government and say this is what our future leaders are saying, what can we do to revive our country in line with their resolutions? It will be easier for Government to come in and help because we have a listening Government,” she said.
Cde Ncube also noted that it was an opportunity for the youths to challenge themselves and set the ball rolling with devolution at centre stage.
“I believe devolution is the centre pivot for Bulawayo’s re-industrialisation agenda. We will decide on our fate as Bulawayo. We might encounter teething problems but we need to shape it well to suit our culture, to suit our needs as Bulawayo Province.
“Devolution of power is an opportunity for you to wake up, think outside the box and come up with ideas, let the train find us moving, not waiting and also let us be steps ahead for the betterment of our city,” she said. She also stated that the major challenges which were affecting a lot of people in Bulawayo were drug abuse, unemployment and low pass rates.
