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George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
The political leadership here has expressed confidence that good times will soon be rolling for Masvingo province following the inauguration of President Mnangagwa as Zimbabwe’s second executive President on Sunday.

Senior Zanu-PF leaders in the province said Masvingo was on course to achieve rapid socio-economic transformation on the back of President Mnangagwa’s hands-on-the-deck approach they hoped would see closed firms re-opening to create employment.

They said President Mnangagwa’s business first mantra was the right tonic for Masvingo to end decades of stagnation blamed on lack of investment in key areas such as mining and agriculture, among others.

Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Josaya Hungwe welcomed President Mnangagwa’s inauguration, saying the Head of State and Government’s policies were what the doctor ordered for the drought-stricken province.

“We are very happy that President Mnangagwa was finally inaugurated into office as President of Zimbabwe for the next five years and we are counting on his drive for devolution of power to provinces to engender rapid socio-economic development,” he said.

“Devolution will allow our province to choose its own priority area in terms of development and investment and this will bring quick economic benefits for Masvingo province because we have a lot of untapped potential in areas such as mining and agriculture.”

Senator Hungwe said at the heart of Masvingo’s socio-economic development was full utilisation of the Tugwi-Mukosi Dam in Chivi, which has vast irrigation potential.

“We hope President Mnangagwa’s administration will make sure the dam’s master plan is quickly in place so that there can be investment at the dam,” he said.

“Vast plantations will be irrigated using Tugwi-Mukosi water and Government should quickly draft the master plan.”

The Masvingo provincial leadership has already extended invitations to both local and international investors interested in setting up shop at Tugwi-Mukosi.

He said those in need of land should also apply indicating the type of ventures they wanted at the dam.

His sentiments were echoed by Zanu-PF secretary for Security Cde Lovemore Matuke who said Tugwi-Mukosi irrigation should be prioritised.

“We want Tugwi-Mukosi Dam to start benefiting our people to produce food so that Masvingo becomes self-reliant,” he said.

“There is also scope for production of cash crops such as sugar cane for export and when all this happens jobs will be created as industries will be opened to process some of the crops.”

Cde Matuke said the political leadership in Masvingo expected President Mnangagwa to continue with the revival of closed firms in the province to exorcise the ghost of unemployment haunting the province.

He said Masvingo was endowed with mineral resources and good agricultural land which could be exploited to speedily engender socio-economic development.

Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial chair Cde Ezra Chadzamira said the province was excited by President Mnangagwa new Presidential term saying his stance on issues like devolution and putting business ahead of politics were a harbinger of good times ahead.

Cde Chadzamira

“We are hopeful that with devolution of power provinces will be able to determine their own development agenda,” he said.

“Masvingo has a lot of economic potential and we expect the President to promote investment in mining so that we benefit from our rich mineral resources.

“We also have underutilised dams such as Muzhwi and Tugwi-Mukosi in Chivi, Manyuchi and Siya in Mwenezi and Bikita respectively.”

Cde Chadzamira said the province was also pinning its hopes on the incoming President Mnangagwa’s administration to embark on the Beitbridge-Masvingo-Harare highway dualisation project which would not only end carnage and improve movement of overland cargo, but also create thousands of jobs for the unemployed.

President Mnangagwa has already set the economic ball rolling in Masvingo by kick-starting the re-opening of Mashava asbestos mine.

The President also oversaw the re-opening of the CSC plant in Masvingo after Government secured investors to resuscitate operations.

A sponge iron manufacturing plant owned by Steelmakers, which trades as SIMBI is expected to create hundreds of jobs in the city after signing a special coal mining grant with Government paving the way for the re-opening of its mothballed plant in the Masvingo industrial area.