Chiefs receive 20 cars

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday handed over 20 of the 28 vehicles to traditional leaders, among them the inaugural Chief Goledema of the San community in Tsholotsho District, Mr Christopher Dube, as part of Government's ongoing programme to ensure chiefs are mobile.

The San community chose Mr Christopher Dube as the inaugural chief, in 2021.

Chief Goledema is named after his grandfather, a respected rainmaker and senior traditionalist who reportedly resisted white rule in Tsholotsho during the colonial era.

According to the San customs and socio-political organisation, they have no succession structure. It was, therefore, agreed that Mr Dube, by being a descendant of Goledema, takes the inaugural chieftainship.

Traditional leaders who got vehicles, Isuzu twin cab vehicles, are a fifth batch of chiefs who have benefited from the Government's ongoing programme. The fourth group received 18 cars in May 2021.

In Matabeleland South, traditional leaders who got the vehicles include Chief Maduna of Insiza District, Chief Manguba of Bulilima District, Chief Mathe of Umzingwane District and Chief Masuku of Matobo District.Others who received the cars in Matabeleland North are Chief Menyezwa of Lupane District, Chief Mahlathini of Tsholotsho District, Chief Kavula, Chief Sikalenge and Chief Sinamagonde all from Binga District.

Some chiefs from Manicaland, Masvingo and the Midlands provinces also received their cars.

The remaining eight vehicles for chiefs from the three Mashonaland provinces will be handed over by the President in Harare.

Speaking before the handover ceremony, President Mnangagwa said all the country's 291 chiefs will receive the cars for their use as they traverse areas of their jurisdiction meeting communities. Mobility is key for chiefs to deliver their traditional mandates.

"We have 291 chiefs and all of them will get vehicles. We also got a grant from the government of the People's Republic of China for the construction of a new Parliament building," he said.

"We will soon vacate the current building and create office space for the National Council of Chiefs."

Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo said the vehicles will go a long way in ensuring that traditional leaders were empowered and enhance their integrity in society.

"Chiefs in Matabeleland, in the Midlands and Masvingo, will get 20 cars while remaining ones in some districts in Manicaland, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West will find their cars in Harare," he said.

"These cars were given to chiefs who had not yet received their allocations since their installation as substantive chiefs. We have 10 more cars that are ready to be distributed to chiefs who are waiting to be installed."

Minister Moyo said some chiefs who received cars in January 2018 will soon get new cars to replace the old ones.

Mr Dube thanked the Government under the Second Republic for recognising the San community and championing their equal participation in national development under its broad-based empowerment programmes.

"As the new Chief Goledema of the San community, this vehicle will go a long way in speeding up Government programmes. For a long time, we were marginalised until the advent of the Second Republic," he said.

In line with the Government's philosophy that no one and no place should be left behind in national development, President Mnangagwa's administration has also facilitated the recruitment of members of the San community into the country's security services.

In June last year, a total of 20 youths, comprising eleven males and nine females from the San community in Tsholotsho District, wrote their piece of history when they became the first group to graduate as the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) officers during the 150th recruit correctional officers' pass-out parade at Ntabazinduna Prison Training School.