PRESIDENT Mnangagwa will this week have a busy itinerary in Matabeleland North Province where he will be commissioning some of the milestone projects embarked on by the Second Republic, a majority of which have a national impact.
For a number of decades, Matabeleland North Province was regarded as one of the marginalised provinces in the country where its communities have been presented as poverty-stricken with basic infrastructure development such as hospitals, schools, colleges, roads, and even universities maintaining baby steps.
However, with the coming in of the Second Republic, the province has witnessed accelerated development bringing the province to par with others through the provision of state-of-the-art infrastructure.
This has seen the province having 669 projects embarked on with 435 completed and 234 soon to be completed.
Mnangagwa will headline the ruling Zanu-PF party’s campaign trail as well as commissioning some of the major projects that have been embarked on in the province.
The President will kickstart his itinerary with a Star Rally at Nkayi Business Centre today. Tomorrow he will be commissioning Muchesu Coking Coal Project in Binga District followed by the commissioning of Hwange Thermal Power Station units 7 and 8 on Thursday.
Muchesu Mine belongs to London Alternative Investment (AIM) listed miner- Contango Holdings and is targeting to produce 20 000 tonnes of washed coking coal a month.
The mining house started production recently and is one of the transformative developmental strides in the province given its impact on jobs, community development and downstream industries.
For the Hwange Thermal Power Station units 7 and 8 expansion project, the Government has spent $1,4 billion, with the project being one of the flagship projects being implemented by the government to improve power generation and support the country’s industrialisation and modernisation programme.
Units 7 and 8 are already feeding 600MW into the national grid, with load-shedding becoming a thing of the past in the country.
The Nkayi Presidential rally today, will be a historic one as it will be the first of its kind in the district that gave birth to some of the country’s luminaries inclusive of late national hero, Welshman Hadana Mabhena, Lalatshona Ndebele and former Zanu-PF Member of Parliament for Nkayi Constituency and one of the pioneering groups of freedom fighters, John Maluzo Ndlovu. Ndlovu escaped the hangman’s noose after being captured near Harare in the 1960s.
The rally, the sixth one in as many weeks after Chipinge, Bulilima, Magunje, Zaka and Centenary star rallies, is expected to be another resounding success as Zanu-PF continues to flex its political muscles.
Commenting on the President’s visit to the province, Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Richard Moyo, who is also the Zanu-PF Matabeleland North provincial chairperson, said as a province they were excited and honoured with the recognition of the Second Republic was giving to the province.
He noted that this week’s events come after Vice-President General (Retired) Dr Constantino Chiwenga, Zanu-PF Vice-President, Kembo Mohadi and the ruling party’s National Chairperson, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri have all, in the past week held different rallies in the province.
“As a province, we are really excited about these events; tomorrow (today) there will be a star rally in Nkayi, then Monday we will be commissioning Muchesu Mine in Binga, after which, in consultation with the Zanu-PF national Political Commissar, Mike Bimha, we will have a mini rally.
“Then on Thursday the President will officially commission the Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 expansion project after which he will also address a rally at the Colliery Stadium. This visit by the President comes after Vice-President General (Retired) Dr Chiwenga, Zanu-PF Vice-President, Mohadi and the ruling party’s National Chairperson, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri were all in the province last week, this showing that the Second Republic really values our province,” said Moyo.
He further gave gratitude to the government’s deliberate move of developing the province noting that the province was previously marginalised and significantly lagging behind in terms of development.
“When the President said no one and no place should be left behind, some detractors just dismissed him but with what he is doing especially in Matabeleland we can testify that he is a man of his word.
“Just look at what he has done in Binga, he gave chiefs, the youth, and women fishing rigs, drilled boreholes for the chiefs, and established a nursing school as well as the Binga Polytechnic to mention but a few. The Second Republic is also working on the Victoria Falls Road and there is now massive development and progress at the Gwayi-Shangani Dam project, a project that was first mooted in 1912 but no works were done until now,” said Minister Moyo.
