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Freedom Mupanedemo and Victor Maphosa

President Mnangagwa yesterday led the fourth anniversary commemoration of the national clean- up campaign in Kwekwe where he reiterated the need to keep a clean environment in line with the Government’s Vision 2030.

The President, who addressed a huge crowd in the city’s central business district (CBD) after leading a clean-up of the streets, said cleanliness should start at household level.

He said it was everyone’s duty to clean their surrounding areas, including working places, educational facilities, recreational and residential premises to effectively manage waste management.

“This is the first clean-up campaign in the year 2022. We commenced this programme to keep our country clean four years ago.

“In December last year, we did the clean-up in Bulawayo to mark the third anniversary. We all know that in-between, we were visited by the Covid-19 pandemic and we stopped engaging in the clean-up campaign because we did not know how to deal with the pandemic back then.

“We didn’t understand how to do the clean-up campaign with the pandemic in our midst. We now know that the pandemic has become the norm. It’s the new normal.

“We can now work in the presence and prevalence of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is witnessed by the way you are masked up in compliance with the WHO (World Health Organisation) regulations and I thank you,” said the President.

He said he was happy that he was launching the fourth anniversary of the clean-up campaign in his hometown of Kwekwe, which is famed for its cleanliness

“The Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry led by Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu, took the clean-up campaign to my hometown this time around as we celebrate its fourth anniversary.

“This clean environment we want to achieve is not just for urban areas. It must start at home, the home environment must be clean.

“When we were growing up, our mothers and sisters would wake up and sweep the yard and clean the houses while the fathers and boys would be looking after the livestock. So to the mothers, we say let’s be exemplary,” he said.

President Mnangagwa said the Environment Ministry should quickly move to phase out dumpsites and establish modern waste management sites in line with the smart cities concept.

“The ministry should thus move fast and finalise its work on introducing these facilities as we improve on waste management. I am happy to hear that Kwekwe city has started implementing this concept. This the way to go.

“Our vision of an upper middle class economy must resonate well with the global agenda on promoting a green economy,” he said

The President said all city cites and growth points should strive to promote clean environments.

“I call upon everyone, our local authorities, growth points, villages, to scale up their participation in this initiative which will culminate in a litter free Zimbabwe.

“There are also other economic benefits which accrue from the programme anchored on waste minimisation and efficiency.”

The world, said the President, was battling climate change mainly because of poor environmental management skills.

“We were in Glasgow, Scotland for the COP (26) conference where all the countries in the world met because we are now affected by climate change which has resulted in the rise of temperatures and change in weather conditions.

“That was started by the industrialised countries which were using coal to produce electricity. Developed countries which are the main perpetrators of climate change now want us to stop using coal to produce electricity but we argued we needed to agree on what to do to have green energy like solar in terms of funding,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga yesterday saluted Zimbabweans for embracing the national clean-up since its launch in December 2018.

Since inception, the programme, which seeks to raise awareness on the importance of a clean environment for sustainable socio-economic development, has been a success as it has reached all the corners of the country.

Vice President Chiwenga, who doubles as the Minister of Health and Child Care, was supposed to lead the clean-up in Chivhu, Mashonaland East Province, but could not make it and was represented by his Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro.

In his speech, read by Dr Mangwiro, Vice President Chiwenga said the day presented an opportunity to ensure that the constitutional right to a clean, safe and healthy environment for all was upheld.

“Ensuring a clean environment is everyone’s responsibility. If it is in our capacity to litter and dump waste, it is equally in our capacity to clean it up.

“The solution is in joining hands and working together to build a better Zimbabwe for our future generations.

“The National Clean-up Programme has come a long way since inception in December 2018, having just celebrated the third anniversary of the programme this past December 2021.

“We must not let the achievements of this milestone go down the drain but rather put efforts to achieve more and set a good narrative for posterity,” said VP Chiwenga.

He said the uptake at household level was supposed to be enhanced to improve the effectiveness of the programme and ensure sustainability of cleaning actions.

“Our vision as a nation is to be an upper middle class society by 2030. As such, all sectors of the economy should find a niche in this vision by participating in sustainable management of waste.

“The vision dovetails well with the global agenda of promoting a green economy where sustainable consumption and production remains the cornerstone for the global development agenda.

“ Sustainable consumption requires everyone in towns and rural service centres to be responsible for their actions and make the right choices which are environmentally friendly and sound.”