Opinion / Columnist
'Consolidating Bulawayo Growth through Zim-Asset' What a joke!
27 May 2016 at 09:11hrs | Views
This week ends with yet another insulting joke for Bulawayo citizens with a much publicised meeting to be addressed by the First Lady under the theme "Consolidating Bulawayo Growth through Zim-Asset. Just the topic alone tells of how Zanupf defines words and situations. Bulawayo is indeed growing according to them and the First Lady is coming to hear or talk of how that growth has been taking place through or by government ministers. How can one really describe such abnormality?
The biggest institution that has ever been built in the last 20 years in Bulawayo is the National University of Science and Technology popularly known as NUST. It is said to be only 30% complete. For 20 years! What growth is there to consolidate? The once worldwide acclaimed Cold Storage Commission that supplied meat to Europe and America is a pathetic site. It is now one evidence of destructive policies. No violent action to destroy it whatsoever, not even a peaceful strike and yet it has been dilapidated.
Like elsewhere in the whole country, Bulawayo no longer has a viable transport system as it had in the past. Perhaps the first lady is coming to hear or talk about how the police officers have taken over this economic aspect by filling up the roads with their small private cars that are plying as unregistered taxis. Maybe this is the only growth that Zanupf ministers dream of in their consolidating of growth in Bulawayo.
Factories were forced to move out of the city to Harare specifically to avoid the frustrations of endless bureaucratic hurdles. Many just shut down as government policies drove away investors by persistent threats. The people of Bulawayo have not seen any construction or opening of a factory in many years. They only saw the Vice President Mphoko opening his Choppies and some super markets. Is that the growth that the First lady and the ministers are coming to consolidate?
Recently, a giant project to build an infrastructure at Egodini was stalled by a Government Minister. Just talking of growth, without building anything is ridiculous. This is simply an economic hallucination! Minister Sandi Moyo refused to cooperate with the people of Bulawayo when they requested her to intervene during the innovation of the Luveve ground. They were protesting against the importation of trench diggers from Harare just to dig or cut grass. She vehemently rejected the people of Bulawayo and insinuated that those who raised the issue were tribalists. It is not a surprise that she claims pride of this economically meaningless gathering. Zanu-PF has neither will nor have the capacity to change the economic situation in Bulawayo or anywhere in Zimbabwe. Their aim is to just loot. That is what they know best. The people of Bulawayo are living with this painful experience of seeing their city dying steadily and surely.
An appropriate title would be "Dreams and Efforts to Economically Revive Bulawayo". How does a dying city grow? Death and growth of one living thing cannot occur at the same time.
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Mkhululi Zulu is the ZAPU Bulawayo Province Secretary for Information and Publicity.
The biggest institution that has ever been built in the last 20 years in Bulawayo is the National University of Science and Technology popularly known as NUST. It is said to be only 30% complete. For 20 years! What growth is there to consolidate? The once worldwide acclaimed Cold Storage Commission that supplied meat to Europe and America is a pathetic site. It is now one evidence of destructive policies. No violent action to destroy it whatsoever, not even a peaceful strike and yet it has been dilapidated.
Like elsewhere in the whole country, Bulawayo no longer has a viable transport system as it had in the past. Perhaps the first lady is coming to hear or talk about how the police officers have taken over this economic aspect by filling up the roads with their small private cars that are plying as unregistered taxis. Maybe this is the only growth that Zanupf ministers dream of in their consolidating of growth in Bulawayo.
Recently, a giant project to build an infrastructure at Egodini was stalled by a Government Minister. Just talking of growth, without building anything is ridiculous. This is simply an economic hallucination! Minister Sandi Moyo refused to cooperate with the people of Bulawayo when they requested her to intervene during the innovation of the Luveve ground. They were protesting against the importation of trench diggers from Harare just to dig or cut grass. She vehemently rejected the people of Bulawayo and insinuated that those who raised the issue were tribalists. It is not a surprise that she claims pride of this economically meaningless gathering. Zanu-PF has neither will nor have the capacity to change the economic situation in Bulawayo or anywhere in Zimbabwe. Their aim is to just loot. That is what they know best. The people of Bulawayo are living with this painful experience of seeing their city dying steadily and surely.
An appropriate title would be "Dreams and Efforts to Economically Revive Bulawayo". How does a dying city grow? Death and growth of one living thing cannot occur at the same time.
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Mkhululi Zulu is the ZAPU Bulawayo Province Secretary for Information and Publicity.
Source - Mkhululi Zulu
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