The Sunday News
Leonard Ncube and Richard Muponde in Victoria Falls
MINISTER of Finance Patrick Chinamasa who is Zanu-PF Secretary for Legal Affairs has called upon all sectors of the economy to be productive and contribute to implementation of the economic blueprint — Zim Asset.
In his presentation on Friday while briefing the ongoing 15th Zanu-PF People’s Conference on the state of the economy in relation to Zim Asset, challenged party cadres and Government ministries to be proactive and focus on production in line with the 10-Point Plan to ship the country out of the current economic hardships, Minister Chinamasa said the economy can only be adequately revived if all sectors and everyone contributed.
Ten Ministers were selected to present papers on what their ministries were doing towards implementation of Zim Asset, in view of the conference theme “Consolidating People’s Power Through Zim Asset” where they spoke about the need for value addition and contributing to the economy.
Transport and Infrastructure Development
In his presentation Minister Joram Gumbo said a number of projects were underway as his ministry moves to upgrade infrastructure. He said plans were underway to upgrade various airports such as Kariba, Buffalo Range and Mutare while the official opening of the Victoria Falls International Airport which had been set for tomorrow had been postponed because there were still sticking issues that needed to be finalised before the facility could be opened. He said about $13 million had been sourced for the upgrading of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo. Minister Gumbo bemoaned the state of the Plumtre-Mutare Highway which was recently refurbished saying the contractor did a shoddy job as the road was already falling off. He said some legal processes were being done before the road could be perfected and commissioned by the President. He said work was also underway for the dualisation of the Harare–Mutare Road up to Goromonzi. The minister also gave an update about the recently commissioned Joshua Mqabuko Road adding that work was underway to upgrade other roads countrywide.
Industry and Commerce
Minister Mike Bimha said Zim Asset programmes were paying dividends as a number of companies were back on their feet after going through turbulent times. “The media usually write about companies closing but have forgotten to write about those revived through Government programmes,” said Minister Bimha. He said United Refineries in Bulawayo was now operating at 100 percent full capacity producing 12,1 million litres of cooking oil against the nation’s demand of 10 million litres per month. The other companies, Minister Bimha said, revived through Zim Asset are Paramount Garments in Harare, Cairns, Blue Ribbon, Bata which is now at 70 percent capacity utilisation, Anchor Yeast, the dairy industry, Quest Motors, Dorowa Fertiliser, Sable Chemicals and Capri among others. Minister Bimha said the Government had intervened with a myriad of strategies that included banning cheap imports and investing in the companies. He said the Government was receiving a lot of inquiries from investors and together with Special Economic Zones, the country was poised for economic growth next year.
Small to Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development
Minister Sithembiso Nyoni advocated for empowering of communities saying value addition should start at village level. Minister Nyoni paraded a number of products made by SMEs which she said can be produced at village level and sold in shops to add value to the locally available products. She said some small enterpreneurs produced baobab oil which was being used to grow hair on bald heads. She also introduced a number of products that can be produced using local plants such as green tea from a plant called umsuzwana, oils, relish, porridge and jam which are extracted from indigenous fruit trees and herbs.
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing
Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said his ministry was targeting to deliver more than
300 000 housing units by 2018. He said this year alone, 26 000 housing stands had been serviced and delivered while an additional 19 000 were on the cards in the near future. Minister Kasukuwere said they were considering flats “so we don’t affect” agriculture. Growth of cities is affecting agricultural growth hence the need to build going up. He castigated corruption especially by housing co-operatives, land barons and local authority officials saying Government would not tire to deal with those abusing home seekers. The Minister said his ministry was also consulting on how to deal with the errant kombi industry which he said was a menace to the communities.
Minister of Primary and Secondary Education
Dr Lazarus Dokora commended President Mugabe for his contribution to the education sector saying he was the best teacher and an icon of education in the country who had a vision for education. He said the country’s literacy rate was at 92,4 percent and his ministry’s prerogative was to harness the remaining 7,6 percent so that the country achieves a 100 percent literacy rate.
He also said that no child should be chased away from school due to non-payment of school fees. The minister said all children coming from poor backgrounds and those who have failed to pay school fees should be allowed to attend classes while school authorities engage parents on ways to settle their arrears.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development
Professor Jonathan Moyo said the theme of the conference “Consolidating People’s Power Through Zim-Asset” can only be achieved through value adding through education.
He drew laughter when he said there were only 5 091 legitimate PHDs in the country where some were dollar for two PHDs. He said out of eight million Zimbabweans above 15 years who make up the 92 percent literacy rate, only 2 545 have Mathematics and Science skills, adding that his ministry was considering reinforcing the need for Mathematics and Science as key entry requirements into tertiary education while lecturers without Masters and Doctorates will not be eligible to teach at colleges and universities respectively. Prof Moyo said new universities will be opened next year bringing the number to 21.
“There are 15 universities in the country, nine of which are State institutions. Next year they will be 21 as we will have Manicaland State, Marondera State and Gwanda State. After that we will consider having a polytechnic and teachers’ college in each province,” said Prof Moyo.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare
Minister Prisca Mupfumira spoke about the social programmes undertaken by her ministry as a way of improving lives of vulnerable groups. She said as a way of implementing Zim Asset, the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) had come up with a $10 million facility to assist retrenchees who lost their jobs following the July Supreme Court ruling and the funds will be disbursed through the SMEs ministry. She said the Government had no plans to retrench any worker but warned that those found to be “sleeping on duty” will be penalised, adding that they had decentralised the Civil Service Commission and Salary Services Bureau to provinces and districts for effective monitoring and weeding of ghost workers. Minister Mupfumira said a National Building Society had been established and will open in March next year to help low income earners own houses.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development
Minister Ignatius Chombo, who was representing Minister Joseph Made said the recurrent droughts being experienced in the country as a result of climate change, could only be mitigated through capacitating irrigation schemes countrywide. He said Brazil and Belarus among other countries had extended a number of loans to that effect. He said a number of programmes by the Government and its partners were on the cards some of them being importation of 1 000 heifers for the dairy industry next year and distribution of cotton inputs following re-acquisition of Cottco by the Government. Minister Chombo said the country had enough stocks of grain to last until July next year with about 160 000 maize in stock.
Minister of Lands and Rural Development
Minister Douglas Mombeshora said former farm workers who are mostly of alien origins were now going to get land under the land reform programme since the new constitution has depicted that those with Sadc parents but born in Zimbabwe were now entitled to hold land in Zimbabwe. He also said those who were illegally occupying land not allocated to them will be evicted. The Minister also lamented what he termed corruption by traditional leaders, land barons and politicians who sell land to citizens. He warned those involved in the vice that they will face prosecution and urged members of the public to report any of those selling State land to report to his office. Minister Mombeshora said land was not for sale in the country as it was given for free.
He also said Government was going to reposses underutilised pieces of land and reduce the size of farms for those who got huge pieces. He said a land commission was being set up to carry a land audit next year. Minister Mombeshora said the land reform was almost complete with only 900 000 hectares outstanding while 14,4 million hectares had been redistributed since the process started more than a decade ago. He said his ministry was in the process of rationalising issues to do with Title Deeds and leases while the ministry was now responsible for collecting land rentals which was once the mandate of the Ministry of Local Government. He said next year a land audit will be carried out by a land commission which will be empowered through a Bill that is currently being worked on.
Mines and Mining Development
Minister Walter Chidakwa said they were working on a Bill that would allow for co-existence of miners and farmers. He said Zimbabwe was endowed with 19 out of 21 minerals strategic for economic development as he called for transparency in the sector where miners should sell to registered buyers for accountability.
Energy and Power Development
On the state of energy in the country, Minister Samuel Undenge said Government was looking at a number of projects that would add electricity to the national grid, adding that the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) was working on electrifying all public institutions.
He said energy shortages were raging in the whole of Sadc region.
