eBusiness Weekly
President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Tuesday government should be focused and united to be able to deliver its mandate to the people and country.
Addressing the first cabinet meeting of the year at State House, he said all ministerial programmes must be aligned to the country’s economic blueprint, the National Development Strategy (NDS) and carried out diligently and with integrity.
He said bureaucratic hurdles and mindsets, which hinder programme implementation, must be ditched and replaced by seamless, co-ordinated processes.
“Citizens are the primary beneficiaries of our efforts, and open lines of communication with them should be maintained, including through active Thematic Working Group discussions,” he said.
“Meetings of the NDS- steering Committees and Thematic Working Groups must be represented at the proper levels. These must often generate the requisite reports which show that stakeholder perspectives, including the private sector and development partners, are taken on board, prior to presentation to Cabinet,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said reports of Thematic Working Groups should form a major part of Cabinet business in order to accelerate the implementation of the NDS.
He said that issues requiring thorough consideration must be submitted to Cabinet as substantive items on the agenda and not under ‘Any Other Business’.
He said he had noticed in previous cabinet meetings a worrying trend where some ministers prioritised their ministerial activities, and neglected cabinet business.
“This must stop forthwith. Cabinet business takes precedence over all other matters and attendance of Cabinet meetings is compulsory,” President Mnangagwa said.
He called for scaled up government action across the board, but particularly in the health sector in view of the cholera pandemic gripping the region.
Provision of clean water, sanitation facilities and waste management services, he said, must be a priority.
“Over the last two months, a few districts of the county experienced disasters attributable to climate change and other causes. Our mining sector was not spared. I commend all stakeholders for the successful rescue, treatment and care efforts that were mounted, following the related disasters. The relevant ministers are expected to update Cabinet on these matters,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said in line with the government commitment to leave no one and no place behind, Ministers should focus on implementing transformative programmes that promoted industrialization, modernization as well as rural development throughout the country.
He added that infrastructure development was a government top priority, and as such projects like the Forbes Border Post modernisation, the Harare-Chirundu highway rehabilitation, the Harare-Kanyemba Road development, Tugwi-Mukosi control tunnel, recapitalisation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe and completion of the Mbudzi interchange, Gwayi-Shangani Dam and other strategic dams, will be expedited.
“Prudent fiscal and monetary policies and the promotion of a conducive business environment remain critically important for the stability and growth of our economy,” he said.
“Accordingly, the fiscal and monetary authorities are implementing a raft of policy measures to arrest price increases, stabilise the foreign exchange rate, maintain the value of our currency and ultimately encourage savings,” he said. – New Ziana
