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Victor Maphosa

Mashonaland East Bureau

A group of 48 families displaced when Muchekeranwa Dam was built in Marondera district were yesterday assigned their irrigated plots on the outgrower irrigation scheme commissioned by President Mnangagwa with the farmers noting that the President and his Government had kept their promises made as the farmers were moved.

Already 30ha of the 90ha assigned have been cleared and cultivated and with a centre pivot installed under the first phase of the project.

More land is being cleared so that all of the displaced families will benefit from the irrigation scheme.

The farmers will be trained by agriculture experts from the Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences Technology and Agritex.

The farmers will get irrigation water from Muchekeranwa Dam.

The gesture by Government has received commendations from the beneficiaries, who thanked especially the President for remembering them in rural Marondera. Those forced to move when their fields are flooded by a new dam are supposed to be allocated new land, with the Second Republic doing this promptly.

A youth from Muchekeranwa, Mr Ngonidzashe Chidhuwa who is now on the irrigated land commended Government for the gesture.

“As a youth, I am happy with what our Government has done for us. As you can see, we are now able to do agricultural activities all year round without any difficulties. Even the climate change will not affect us much due to this irrigation project.

“We thank our President for coming back to us as he promised during the commissioning of this dam. We were affected and relocated when construction of this dam started. We thank him for fulfilling his promise,” he said.

Mr Davison Upapa, another beneficiary who was also relocated paving way for the construction of Muchekeranwa Dam thanked Government for not abandoning them.

“I am one of the people who was displaced for the construction of the dam. However, Government did not relocate us to a faraway place. now Government has established an irrigation scheme which is meant to benefit us. We are happy and we thank our President and Government for this and we welcome it.

“What is left is for us to play our part and work hard on this project. We will get expertise from Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. So we need to be committed and deliver.”

Mrs Rudo Machaka, who is also farming on the scheme commended Government for giving them land and equipment for them to do agricultural activites.

“I stay near this dam and I am happy for what our President has done for us. We were told back then that we would benefit from an irrigation scheme from Government and today we are witnessing the promise being fulfilled.

“We are now able to do agricultural activities throughout the year and nothing will stop us from harvesting. We never thought this will be done for us and we are thankful,” she said.

Mrs Bibiana Chingore of ward 22, also commended the Second Republic for the project and urged other beneficiaries to work hard and earn a living.

“This program is good, I can see that we are already empowered and we are happy. This is commendable and my wish is for these projects to be done across the country for everyone to prosper.

“To those who also benefited I want to urge them to be united and work hard for their prosperity.”

Chairman of the Muchekeramwa Irrigation Scheme Mr Moses Chinhara thanked Government for the project and promised to work hard with others to better their lives.

“I feel happy because President Mnangagwa fulfilled his promise he made when he commissioned this dam. He promised some centre pivots for this scheme and today we have them. We are very happy. We are going to do commercial agriculture here and earn some money for our upkeep. We also want to thank MUAST for the expertise and all kinds of assistance on this project,” he said.