Opinion / Columnist
ZAPU Devolution of Power Explained part 3 of 4
06 Sep 2014 at 09:33hrs | Views
ZAPU devolved legislative regions have an abundant wealth of natural resources
This is the third instalment of the four part series explaining the ZAPU devolution of power model. ZAPU devolution allows provincial and local assemblies autonomy within the scope of national unity and self-determination; it allows the people from different provinces to exercise autonomous control over resources within their locality and transform them at the pace determined by them for their benefits. In this article Mr. Richard Gandari explores the potential economic benefits for ZAPU five devolved legislative provinces with the advent of ZAPU devolution of power.
Energy Generation:
ZAPU devolution entails that energy and power generation in Zimbabwe is devolved to each province with central government offering a regulatory framework. The energy needs of each province are not identical. It means every province will set up its own generators and power management systems allowing for interprovincial power lines and grids required for exporting/importing power as and when needed.
In ZAPU devolution provinces are equipped with the requisite infrastructure to generate, distribute and manage its own power provincially. Those provinces with greater capacity to generate excess power such, as Matabeleland North with its Hwange Thermal Power Station or Mashonaland West with its Kariba Hydro Power Station can be allowed to export their extra power to neighboring provinces if needed. There is no province in Zimbabwe without the capacity to generate power either using Solar, wind, thermal or hydro power stations.
Other provinces such as Manicaland can easily take advantage of their 'Eastern Highlands' to set up wind driven turbines. There are also a number of naturally occurring waterfalls to drive turbines in Manicaland.
It only follows that once each province attains capacity to generate adequate power, industries can be born in those provinces. Construction and maintenance of every power grid is an industry on its own. A centralized government only focuses on its urban centers when it comes to electrification. A devolved ZAPU government on the other hand will enable provinces to reach out to places considered rural or remote by authorities in a centralised administration.
Zimbabwe imports all its fuels including biogas. The establishment of sugarcane plantations in Chisumbanje, Manicaland to produce ethanol for mandatory blending as a way of achieving import substitution is a positive step. However, it defies logic why the blending itself should only be done at a plant located in Harare far away from Manicaland. It further defies logic why truckloads of the Jatropha plant which thrives in Mutoko, Mashonaland East, have to be ferried to a Biodiesel Plant set up in Mt Hampden, Mashonaland West. A devolved ZAPU government would offer to have the pipeline ending in Mutare in Manicaland where all petroleum cracking is conducted. ZAPU believes that secondary and tertiary industries should by all means be situated near the primary resource industry.
Mineral wealth and value addition
The current mining of diamonds at Chiyadzwa in Manicaland mainly involves the export of unpolished diamonds. Calls have been made to develop and establish a cutting and polishing center of our own. A ZAPU devolved government would see such a strategic establishment being set up in Manicaland however the current centralized government is constructing the school/center for diamond cutting and polishing in Mt Hampden, Mashonaland West. The people of Manicaland are denied employment opportunities and revenue generated from the extraction and processing of diamonds coming from area of their habitant.
What ZAPU observes is that the people of diamond rich Marange are violently removed from their native land to pave the way to the interests of centralised government extremists. In devolution, this resource is given to the hands of people in Manicaland so that it provides opportunities for both social and economic growth in that region and the country as a whole.
The excessive extraction of granite blocks in Mutoko, Mashonaland East has left people in Mashonaland East with no benefits accruing to the local communities there. The community there has to deal with land degradation.
There is great potential for economic prosperity in mining under ZAPU devolution in Zimbabwe. ZAPU notes that every province in Zimbabwe has some mineral deposits of some sorts. Some of these minerals have not been exploited due to the general failures of a centralized government.
Masvingo province has the world's richest lithium brines and clays. These can be industrially electrolyzed to derive pure lithium that can be further processed into valuable lithium-ion batteries as well as 'mood stabilizers' medical drugs for manic depression among many other great uses.
In Silobela in the Midlands Province, there are great deposits of a lustrous gray metalloid called antimony mainly useful as alloying material for lead and tin in lead-acid batteries and plain bearings. The Great Dyke stretching about 550 kilometers from Mashonaland Central through Mashonaland West to Midlands, yet another underutilized mineral rich landmark. The range is host to vast ore deposits, including gold, silver, chromium, platinum, nickel and asbestos. The disused gold mines in Guruve, Mashonaland Central, abandoned by German miners soon after our independence. No exploration is taking place, an economic resource that could be driving the growth of the economy. The list of neglected mineral wealth in Zimbabwe can never be exhausted in this document.
Zimbabwe can be divided into five distinct agricultural regions which do not necessarily follow provincial boundaries. However not all provinces enjoy adequate arable land. Matabeleland South does not have enough arable soils ideal for crop farming. Livestock farming thrives. People of Matabeleland South can prosper by selling its excellent meat produce to other provinces in Zimbabwe as well exporting to other countries. Part of the revenue generated can be used to outsource grains and other necessities into the province. This arrangement can easily promote interprovincial trade and solidify national cohesion.
Better economic performance
Devolution in its true sense can effectively lead to better economic performance in every province. Value addition and Export Processing Zones are always located right next to the raw materials. It only makes sense to have a sugar refinery in Chiredzi, Masvingo Province right next to the sugarcane plantations there. Cotton farmers in Gokwe should have access to a ginnery located in their Midlands Province. Jobs opportunities created by value addition should naturally go to the people who reside in places where raw materials are extracted. Only ZAPU devolved government can achieve such a noble arrangement.
The whole world knows Zimbabwe because we were blessed with one of the ‘seven wonders of the world' the mighty Victoria Falls. Under a devolved state, each province in Zimbabwe has its own unique tourism package to offer both to the domestic and foreign tourists. Masvingo Province has the world famous Great Zimbabwe Ruins as well as part of the now trans-frontier park called Gonarezhou shared with Mozambique and South Africa.
Matabeleland North is the proud host to the aforementioned Victoria Falls recognized worldwide. The same province also boasts of Hwange National Park, also world renowned for its flora and fauna. There is no school of tourism or catering in Victoria Falls. These schools are situated away in bigger cities far away from the centre of activity. The prospect of local young people benefiting from jobs in tourism is very unlikely.
Manicaland has that awesome Mount Inyangani range. Mashonaland West has Kariba Dam watered by the mighty Zambezi River. Chinhoyi Caves is also in that Province. There are many other great places of interest to visit in other provinces not listed herein for the sake of brevity. A tourist to Zimbabwe is really spoilt for choice.
Tourism is a vital sector of the economy with the capacity to generate employment and revenue. Again through tourism a country can brand itself and be known in good light. ZAPU devolution actually takes this a step further by giving room for each province to be known in its own right. In order for tourism to succeed at provincial level, ZAPU devolution encourages each province to adopt its own model of tourism infra-structure and management systems. There is no need to benchmark anything as diversity becomes part of the very cause a tourist would want to visit all the provinces in turns. ZAPU devolution will encourage and strengthen the role of Eco-tourism entrepreneurship.
Natural woodlands that include Mukubisi and Miombo woodlands in the North Eastern Zimbabwe and hard wood forests in Matebeleland North can be a source of social and economic growth of those communities. People living adjacent to those woodlands are currently excluded from direct economic participation driving them to have little respect and value of those resource because of lack of connection and ownership.
Little attention is paid to the impact of the centralised policy on woodlands use and commercialization of woodlands forests which is viewed in isolation and disconnected from the local communities. No interventions at wider community levels has ever been attempted to give ownership of local forests to local communities.
ZAPU believes that the centralised approach is in variance with community development prerogatives and the situation should be addressed within the frame work of localism and democratization of natural resource management.
Under ZAPU devolution, mechanisms for promoting the sustainable use of biological biodiversity will include an enabling legislative framework which promotes the sustainable use of renewable biological resources. In devolution people within their provinces will have the rights to forests and land resources currently belonging to the Government by devolving the management of those resources to local communities to fully utilize and benefit from resources located in their communities.
Mr. Richard Gandari is a member of ZAPU Devolution of Power Committee based in Zimbabwe
Source - Themba Mthethwa
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