Derick Tsimba
President Mnangagwa’s achievements are quite impressive as he has managed to work tirelessly to put the countries interest first regardless of challenges the country faces economically to fulfil his mandate on development. Much of the President’s work can be revealed in his contribution towards infrastructure development in the country, from the completion of the New Parliament building, construction of Gwai-Shangai Dam, modernisation of Harare-Beitbridge highway and construction of Hwange Unit 7 and 8, all these are some of the examples of the results of President Mnangagwa’s initiative to turnaround the economy of Zimbabwe.
The New Parliament building has finally been completed and it now stands tall as a testimony of one of the country’s major development projects. Having been completed the New Parliament building now takes its role as the main attraction to further the development of a new City in Mount Hampden, which is expected to be decongest Harare CBD buy moving the central government to the new location.
A business district is going to emerge around the New Parliament building as companies and shops are expected to set up their establishments. According to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, structures to be incorporated in the design of the new city entail; office parks, commercial entities, a hi-tech park, information communication technology centre park, institutional facilities, agro-processing structures, resort hotels, conference centre, golf course, apartments, cluster houses and garden flats, residential low density, civic center game sanctuary, botanical garden, waste to energy management centre, roads and servitude and area green buffers. The growth of this new business district will create job opportunities helping to reduce unemployment.
Gwaai-Shangani Dam is a game changer for Matebeleland region which has been drought stricken for years affecting agricultural productivity, construction of the Dam has automatically changed Matebeleland region into a green belt. The laying of a 245km Pipeline of water from Gwaai-Shangani to Bulawayo with irrigation dams in between will provide adequate water for farmers making the region food sufficient. The construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam is one of the first in Africa and it is expected to boost Zimbabwe economically through increased agricultural output.
Following the ground breaking ceremony of the expansion of the Hwange unit 7 and 8 by President Mnangagwa in 2018, completion of the expansion works is now at finanal stages. When completed the units are expected to contribute in making the country self-sufficient on electricity production by adding 600MW to the national grid. Electricity remains a basic resource for most industries. The reliability and availability ensures continuous production that increases the countrys production output as a whole. The expansion project will be celebrated as another successful achievement by President Mnangagwa as he works hard to implement the National Development Strategy (NDS1) towards attaining aspirations of Vision 2030.
Infrastructure development has become Governments top priority as it shapes the future of Zimbabwe to attain vision 2030. Efforts by President have seen Harare to Beitbridge motorway completion progressing to more than 90% complete and more than 300 km already open to traffic. Completion of the highway will provide a reliable road network that connects Zimbabwe and South Africa. The route is an economic driver for business activity since Zimbabwe connects Southern Africa with the rest of Northern Africa, which makes this route a cash cow.
President Manangawa continues to lead by example on how the country should move forward towards development. Although the work by President Mnangagwa is commendable, the country continues to face huddles in form sanctions from the West and Government detractors working tirelessly to derail the progress achieved for Zimbabwe for the sake of regime change aimed at controlling the country’s resources.
