Mnangagwa takes urban renewal gospel to Kwekwe

URBAN renewal is at the centre of Zanu-PF's agenda ahead of both the looming by-elections and next year's general elections, occasions which both offer the electorate the opportunity to boot out incompetent and often corrupt opposition councillors from the cities.

Over the past two decades when the opposition has been running cities, service delivery has ground to a halt — roads are potholed, garbage goes uncollected while the city fathers line their pockets with loot from council coffers.

The deplorable situation in urban areas has often seen central Government stepping-in to rescue the urbanites — through construction of dams to end water woes, and rehabilitating roads in fulfilment of President Mnangagwa pledge to initiate development that leaves no one and no place behind.

On the cards are title deeds for the urban dwellers, new water sources — such as Kunzvi Dam that is already under construction and is expected to end Harare's perennial water woes — and several development projects across the country in line with the devolution agenda which is being financed to the tune of $40 billion this year.

Taking the development message to the populace, President Mnangagwa is tomorrow expected to headline a rally in the Midlands town of Kwekwe with the ruling party expecting yet again a massive turn-out due to its growing popularity, thanks to policies that resonate with the people.

In an interview, Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Chris Mutsvangwa, said it is all systems go for the Kwekwe rally, especially as it is coming at a time when the Government has found investors to partner in the revival of Zisco.

"The weekend rally is there to restore hope to long-time beleaguered Kwekwe residents. The heavy industry fortunes of the region are in full swing back to glorious production. There is the announced local Kuvimba partners to bring back Zisco.

"A refractory gold refinery is being built on the outskirts of the town by Chinese investors as they expand their antimony metal operation. Nearby Mvuma-Chivhu-Manhize Steel Plant is steadily going up. It is targeting an initial 1.2 million tonnes of production. More ferrochrome smelters are on the investment drawing board for the benefit of this mineral-rich Great Dyke town," said Cde Mutsvangwa.

Apart from benefiting from a mining restoration, just like all of Zimbabwe, the town has also benefited from people-tailored projects like Pfumvudza.

"The Kwekwe rally has all the bearings of the prosperity agenda championed by President Mnangagwa as he stewards Zanu-PF party. The mantra ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business' is homing upon Kwekwe in a big and pleasant manner," said Cde Mutsvangwa

Cde Mutsvangwa added that the impending polls will be the high noon for the opposition forces that have failed the people for two decades.

"The Kwekwe rally also has another potency. It is being firmly placed onto the agenda of Urban Renewal by President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF — the ruling party and the tempered custodian of the Zimbabwe revolution. For more than a decade, a compromised opposition has held sway with the urban voter. This was a reaction to the 2001 Zidera (Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001) economic sanctions of the US Congress and mirror punitive economic measures by the European Union.

"The urban population bore the immediate brunt of an umbilical cord severed from the global economy by the still preponderantly dominant West. The ensuing dislocation swung the urban vote to the opposition MDC courtesy, of the severe economic pain and deprivation."

But with President Mnangagwa at the helm, there is tangible infrastructural development taking place while relations with the EU have been thawing largely because of the re-engagement and engagement policy.