By Lungile Siziba
Binga has been underdeveloped for a long time, but the situation got worse in the over two decades that the area has been in the hands of successive opposition legislators.
From the year 2000, Binga has had opposition legislators, who instead of helping the community to develop, took advantage of them to perpetuate their dominance.
But fast-forward to 2022, President Mnangagwa visited Binga ahead of the March 26 council and National Assembly by-elections.
During closed door meetings with party and community leaders, the President was told of the various challenges that the people were facing, including lack of a vocational and nurses’ training school, clean drinking water, lack of electricity in schools and bad roads which made most parts inaccessible.
President Mnangagwa further promised to empower chiefs, women and youths in the area.
Although Zanu PF narrowly lost the National Assembly seat to the opposition during the by-elections, President Mnangagwa still went ahead to fulfil his promises.
In April, the President handed over fishing rigs to 21 chiefs, 17 from Binga and four from Kariba.
Said President Mnangagwa in respect of under development in Binga: “We looked at Binga and it seemed to lag behind but today we are celebrating because development has come your way, now is the time to work together and transform our country.”
True to his word, the President has initiated development projects in Binga that will completely transform the area, and possibly demonstrate to the residents that they are better off with Zanu PF National Assembly and local government representatives as opposed to those from the opposition, who have repeatedly demonstrated that they just want votes to make a few dollars for themselves at the expense of residents.
President Mnangagwa, who declared that he was a “listening President” from November 24, 2017, when he became the country’s second President since independence in 1980, has since ordered responsible authorities to ensure all the concerns raised by the people of Binga are addressed.
Now, real work has begun as the Second Republic begins to implement the projects that were promised by President Mnangagwa.
Land has since been secured for the building of a Vocational Training Centre while electricity is being connected to schools and clinics, boreholes drilled, roads rehabilitated, internet connected and a provisional border post now operational.
The people are also obtaining civil registration documents such as birth and death certificates and national identity cards after President Mnangagwa directed Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister, Kazembe Kazembe, to deploy adequate manpower for the issuance of the documents.
Six teams from the Registrar General’s Office are in Binga district for mobile registration.
Speaking during a post-Cabinet briefing recently, then Acting Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere, said Cabinet had received and noted an update on the development initiatives for Binga.
The update was presented by Local Government and Public Works Minister, July Moyo.
“The nation is informed that a lot of progress has been made on a number of initiatives to transform the lives of communities in Binga, in line with Government’s mantra of ‘leaving no-one and no place behind’,” he said.
“The developments include the following; Kalonga Road, the 7km Binga-Sengwa detour road, drilling of boreholes. Binga has been granted Gwayi-Shangani Lake water, with two places having been identified for irrigation, (and) land has been secured for a Vocational Training Centre.”
Dr Muswere said TelOne officials were on the ground, connecting internet in Binga to promote e-learning.
Schools with existing infrastructure such as power and computers were getting preference in respect of internet connectivity.
Electricity transformers have also been installed at Manjolo, while the Rural Electrification Agency is electrifying schools in Binga.
Processes for the construction of a School of Nursing are underway, with designs presently being developed.
Tendering processes for mortuary cold rooms and expecting mothers’ shelters are also in progress while the construction of 17 flood victim houses is ongoing, with the remainder of the houses set to be constructed by the Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities.
The Binga community recently got the go-ahead from President Mnangagwa to establish a local board so as to unlock more development opportunities in the area.
In respect of the construction of the mortuary, Binga District Hospital recently floated a tender for the repair and refurbishment of the mortuary at the institution and work is set to be completed by year end.
In a statement, the hospital invited bids for two tenders for the refurbishment of the mortuary and supply and delivery of carpentry material.
“Bids are invited from reputable bidders validly registered with the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ),” read the statement.
Deadline for submission of applications elapsed on June 24, and once the selection process has been completed, work should immediately start as the President wants the works to be concluded as soon as possible.
