Manicaland bids Matsikenyere farewell, welcomes Mugadza
STAKEHOLDERS in Manicaland on Monday held a joint farewell and welcome party for former Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Cde Nokuthula Matsikenyere and the incumbent minister, Advocate Misheck Mugadza.
The event was attended by provincial heads of Government departments, district development coordinators, chairpersons and chief executive officers of local authorities, development partners, business executives and religious leaders.
Speaking during the event, Cde Matsikenyere, thanked all stakeholders for their unwavering support that saw Manicaland’s provincial economy on a growth trajectory.
Manicaland’s provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is continuously growing, with agriculture outpacing the wholesale and retail sector in contributing to the growth.
The provincial GDP in 2022 jumped to ZWL$21.8 billion, up from ZWL$20.5 billion recorded in 2012.
This resulted in a growth rate of 6.1 percent.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing were the dominant economic activities in 2022, accounting for 19.9 percent of the provincial GDP.
Wholesale and retail trade contributed 18.8 percent, while the mining and quarrying industry accounted for 14.6 percent of the provincial GDP.
The manufacturing industry accounted for 10.5 percent of the provincial GDP, finance and insurance activities (5.9 percent), information and communication (5.5 percent), real estate activities (2.7 percent), human health and social work (2.5 percent).
An elated Cde Matsikenyere said: My greatest honour goes to His Excellency, President Mnangagwa for according me the chance to spearhead his vision in this province as Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution. It was indeed a great pleasure to serve Government at this level. It was really a great pleasure to work with you all, and I enjoyed overwhelming support from the ruling party, Zanu PF, Government ministries and agencies, churches, business community. Unity and cooperation was evident as it assisted us to achieve what we wanted to achieve as a team.”
She called on staffers in the Office of the Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution to continue supporting the incumbent minister.
“To my successor, Advocate Mugadza, I want to wish you the best in your new assignment. I know that with the support from members of your Office, the community and other stakeholders, your task will be made very easy. I would like to encourage the Office and stakeholders to give you maximum support as you work to achieve the goals set by President Mnangagwa of a prosperous and upper middle class income by 2030. As I leave, my humble wish is to see the growth of Manicaland which is home for all of us and our people want to see positive growth,” she said.
Minister Mugadza hailed Cde Matsikenyere for spearheading a number of developmental projects which changed the face of Manicaland.
“We are bidding farewell to the outgoing minister who was in that position from 2021 to September 2023. During her tenure, Cde Matsikenyere demonstrated exceptional leadership credentials and commendable levels of commitment to her work. She was extremely humble, highly consultative and accessible to the public. The above attributes enabled Cde Matsikenyere to effectively carry out her mandate conferred to her by President Mnangagwa.
“On the development side, during her tenure, several projects were implemented and successfully completed. These include Sabi Lithium Mine in Buhera, Verify Engineering Medical and
Industrial Gas Plant in Mutare, Presidential Borehole Scheme, Runyararo Village for the relocated Cyclone Idai victims, reconstruction of infrastructure that was damaged by Cyclone Idai such as Nyahode Bridge and Kopa-Rusitu Road, facilitation of projects spearheaded by the First Lady, Dr Mnangagwa such as Agric4She and Nhanga/Gota. I would like to express our collective gratitude to Cde Matsikenyere for her priceless contributions to the development of Manicaland Province. Thanks to her hard work, the fruits of her sweat are now accruing massive service delivery dividends to thousands of people in the province,” he said.
Minister Mugadza added: “Going forward, it is our responsibility to ensure that we continue with her developmental trajectory. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure that we grow the provincial GDP so that we eradicate poverty and improve the livelihood of our people. We need to ensure the successfully completion of all ongoing projects which were initiated during Cde Matsikenyere’s tenure. We should also ensure value addition of our minerals and farm produce. To achieve this, we should remain united in the discharge of our duties.”