Zimunya/ Marange has a lot to offer: Mutsvangwa

ZIMUNYA/MARANGE district has a lot to offer its people and there is need for stakeholders to continue to put their heads together to come up with ideas to drive development in line with the Government’s Vision 2030 of achieving an upper middle income status.

The district recently held a meeting that sought to come up with the development agenda for the third quarter, focusing on the current economic challenges being faced by Zimbabweans and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the meeting, Mutare-Chimanimani senator and Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said Manicaland had been affected by several catastrophes over the past few years and recovering from these would require a collective effort.

“These are difficult times we are in,” she said. “The country was placed under sanctions by western countries that want to effect a regime change. As if that was not enough, parts of Manicaland were hit by the Cyclone Idai disaster when we were just coming from two years of drought. Now we are in the Covid-19 period and this needs us to put our heads together to overcome.”

Minister Mutsvangwa said Government was committed to ensuring that people had enough food as evidenced by the food distribution programmes being rolled out.

She said she was happy with the progress made by the Department of Social Welfare to take food to the people in Mutare South, which was one of the most affected areas in terms of hunger in the province.

Minister Mutsvangwa said the mineral resources in Zimunya/Marange should bring development to the district and it was important for stakeholders to come up with ways to maximise on these.

“In Bocha, we have diamonds and we should be organised for us to get maximum value from them,” she said. “No one can ever outdo the next person when it comes to development issues. If we work together, we can make a far reaching impact.

“We have our sons and daughters who are outside the district, those who are in the Diaspora or those doing business elsewhere, we want to rope them all in. Let us try to bring all the resources we have as Zimunya/Marange so that all ideas are put on the table and we map a way forward.”

Minister Mutsvangwa said leaders were open to accepting constructive criticism, which would propel economic development.

ZANU PF Manicaland chairman and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Cde Mike Madiro said such meetings were important as they allowed all stakeholders to bring forth ideas that could push the development agenda forward.

“We have a very important policy position to devolve central Government responsibilities and programmes to local levels and we have agreed that we need to meet quarterly to review progress that we would have made and come up with an agenda for the next quarter,” he said.

Cde Madiro said the meeting included all stakeholders from Government departments, the local authority, ZANU PF leadership, traditional leaders, as well as community leaders.

“We are focusing on the current state of the economy as it affects the people on the ground,” he said. “Inflation has devastated the buying power of the Zimbabwe dollar, the indiscipline of the forex market which has affected the ability of our people to procure important goods and services is also another challenge.

“Government is explaining to the community leadership what they are doing in terms of addressing these issues to make their lives better.”

Cde Madiro said it was important for communities to be aware of the dangers, which Covid-19 posed and how they could adopt the new normal to safeguard their lives.