Zimbabwean
By Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association
8 December 2010
FOUR cabinet ministers in Zimbabwe’s not so inclusive government were on Sunday held to account by Bulawayo residents at a Social Accountability Conference organised by Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) that took place at the large city hall.
The aim of the conference, which ran under the theme ‘promoting local democracy’, was to instill a culture of transparency and accountability in public offices through providing residents with a platform to engage with ministers from the Matabeleland region. The conference gave the ministers present an opportunity to explain to the people of Bulawayo what their ministries are doing to improve the livelihoods of Zimbabweans and spur development in a country that has been ravaged by bad governance and economic demise for over a decade.
The ministers who were present at the conference included the minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, the minister of Water Resources, Development and Management, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, Moses Mzila Ndlovu and the minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals, Gorden Moyo.
The minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Sithembiso Nyoni had also been invited but failed to make it as she had to travel to Johannesburg on the day of the conference.
In his opening remarks, BPRA chairperson, Mr Reason Ngwenya encouraged the over eight hundred residents present to be free in demanding accountability from the ministers, whom he said owed their positions to the people of Zimbabwe and thus have to be held accountable to ensure that they deliver.
He encouraged residents to fully utilize the opportunity to take their leaders to task.
“This is a rare opportunity that I am sure other residents from other cities are not getting. The thrust of this conference is to inculcate a culture of debate and tolerance in our society, which has become very rare. As the family of Bulawayo let’s grab the opportunity with open hands and make use of it,†Mr Ngwenya said.
In his address, the minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Senator David Coltart presented five key intervention areas in his ministry’s quest to restore Zimbabwe’s education sector to its former status – restoration of the dignity of the teaching profession, improvement of the learning environment, improvement of the quality of the education system, governance of schools and affording the marginalised greater opportunities.
He said the strategy included improvement of teacher’s working conditions, improvements in policing of the conduct of authorities in schools to address corruption in schools, refinement of the basic education Assistance Module (BEAM) and upgrading the education curriculum.
Coltart stressed that since his appointment, his ministry had been focusing on stabilizing the education sector that was in a deplorable state in February 2009 at the inception of the inclusive government.
The minister of Water resources, Development and Management Samuel Sipepa Nkomo promised residents that his ministry was committed to ending the water woes that have been endemic in the dry Matabeleland region and stressed that the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP), although viewed as a dream, would come true.
“Some say this is a pipe dream, so let’s wait for this dream to come true,†he said.
Minister Nkomo also highlighted that the Mtshabezi to Umzingwane pipeline, which is seen as a more feasible short term solutions to Bulawayo’s water crisis, would be completed by March next year.
“I am hoping that by the end of March, water should be moving from Mtshabezi dam to Umzingwane dam,†he said. He said refurbishments were also being done at the Nyamandlovu aquifer to augment water supplies to Bulawayo.
Addressing residents, the deputy minister of foreign affairs reiterated the stance of most opposition parties in Zimbabwe that the country is not ready for elections as the playing field is not level. He said it was fool hardy for the country to go to the plebiscite when over a million Zimbabweans residents outside the country would not be allowed to vote.
“The electoral laws in the country should be changed to extend the right to vote to all Zimbabweans in the dispora. This is the case in all countries in the SADC region except for Zimbabwe,†he said.
In his closing address, the Honourable Gorden Moyo praised BPRA for hosting the Social Accountability Conference. He said such initiatives were important in ensuring that the country and especially the marginalized Matabeleland region are included in the country’s development programmes.