Zimpapers Logo

Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa this morning led parastatals that fall under her ministry on a joint national clean-up exercise at Glen Roy Shopping Centre in Highlands, Harare.

The country’s largest integrated media house Zimbabwe Newspapers (Pvt) Limited (Zimpapers) Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), Transmedia, Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT), Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) were joined by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) in cleaning up the shopping centre.

Addressing journalists after the exercise, Minister Mutsvangwa said that the clean-up campaign does not mean that people should only clean their environs on the first Friday of every month but every day.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa (second from left), Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana (left) and Zimpapers Chief Executive Officer Mr Pikirayi Deketeke (right) participate in a clean-up at Glen Roy Shopping centre in Highlands, Harare – Picture: Kudakwashe Hunda

“You are aware that the President declared the first Friday of every month as a national cleaning up campaign,” she said.

“A campaign does not mean we only clean on the first Friday of every month. It means we clean every day. This is a campaign to make sure that all the citizens in this country, at least make sure that their houses and neighbourhoods are clean. Cleanliness is next to godliness.

“We are thankful to Transmedia, which is our signal company which identified this area as one of the potential areas which we need to keep clean. We are quite happy because we managed to clean a lot of stuff.”

Zimpapers group chief executive Mr Pikirayi Deketeke said it was important to identify with the things that are of concern to society.

Zimpapers Chief Executive Officer Mr Pikirayi Deketeke (second from left) leads the Media House’s employees at a clean-up at Glen Roy Shopping centre in Highlands, Harare – Picture: Kudakwashe Hunda

“What is important is we are licensed to serve and we are not just licensed to publish information but also to be part of the society that we live in,” he said.

“Today we are joining the team here at Zinara headquarters even though we have our own programme that is trying to make sure that First Street, which is one of our iconic streets in Harare, is swept and kept clean.

“We have placed bins along George Silundika Avenue (in the central business district) as our contribution towards the cleanliness of our city. We want to be practical as well as disseminate information to our communities.”