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Promote national harmony, Mnangagwa tells chiefs
03 Dec 2018 at 16:57hrs | Views
The 2018 annual Chiefs Conference has began in Kadoma with President Emmerson Mnangagwa calling on traditional leaders to spread the gospel of love, peace, unity and harmony as preconditions for national development.
President Mnangagwa underscored the need for peace if the country is to achieve meaningful development, and thus called on traditional and religious leaders alike to always advocate for love, peace and unity.
He said isolated cases of politically motivated conflicts experienced occasionally are expected in every society but these should not distract government from forging ahead with its vision and developmental agenda.
The President assured the chiefs that government clearly understands the role of traditional leaders in the governance matrix, hence their recognition in the national constitution.
The traditional leaders were also urged to play a part in the process of devolution by coming up with proposals on how best to use the US$310 million provincial allocation under the programme.
Turning to infrastructure development issues, President Mnangagwa revealed steady progress is being made in the area of roads construction and maintenance, saying government has began work on the Harare-Beitbridge road dualisation using internally generated funds while awaiting the awarding of a tender to a contractor with financial and technical capacity.
"Two companies that were previously selected to implement the project failed to show proof of financial and technical capacity," said President Mnangagwa.
The President also indicated efforts are being made to recover unaccounted for ZINARA funds.
President of the Chiefs Council Senator Fortune Charumbira pledged support to government's developmental programmes, but demanded that chiefs be given enough space to exercise their mandate.
Chief Charumbira added that traditional leaders are a conduit of people's emotions and thus their role should never be undermined.
Among those who attended the Chiefs Conference were the two Vice Presidents Retired General Constantino Chiwenga and Cde Kembo Mohadi.
President Mnangagwa underscored the need for peace if the country is to achieve meaningful development, and thus called on traditional and religious leaders alike to always advocate for love, peace and unity.
He said isolated cases of politically motivated conflicts experienced occasionally are expected in every society but these should not distract government from forging ahead with its vision and developmental agenda.
The President assured the chiefs that government clearly understands the role of traditional leaders in the governance matrix, hence their recognition in the national constitution.
The traditional leaders were also urged to play a part in the process of devolution by coming up with proposals on how best to use the US$310 million provincial allocation under the programme.
Turning to infrastructure development issues, President Mnangagwa revealed steady progress is being made in the area of roads construction and maintenance, saying government has began work on the Harare-Beitbridge road dualisation using internally generated funds while awaiting the awarding of a tender to a contractor with financial and technical capacity.
"Two companies that were previously selected to implement the project failed to show proof of financial and technical capacity," said President Mnangagwa.
The President also indicated efforts are being made to recover unaccounted for ZINARA funds.
President of the Chiefs Council Senator Fortune Charumbira pledged support to government's developmental programmes, but demanded that chiefs be given enough space to exercise their mandate.
Chief Charumbira added that traditional leaders are a conduit of people's emotions and thus their role should never be undermined.
Among those who attended the Chiefs Conference were the two Vice Presidents Retired General Constantino Chiwenga and Cde Kembo Mohadi.
Source - ZBC
