By Evans Dakwa
Zimbabwe is focusing on winning the economic war as it advances towards attaining vision 2030 of Middle income economy.This was said by Vice President Kembo Mohadi as he commissioned a solarised borehole at Beitbridge Mission Primary School and handed over 5000 exercise books and a star link kit with three months subscription sourced from Telone.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Matebeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Honourable Evelyn Ndlovu, the Vice President said the second republic is concentrating on the building the blocks to a prosperous economy for the betterment of the lives of Zimbabweans.
“The focus is on improving livelihoods in our Zimbabwean communities so much that apart from protecting and maintaining our heritage, every Zimbabwean enjoys the quality services and rights that we fought for to gain political independence. The war now is on gaining economic independence where business patterns through currency regimes, exchange rates and interest rates are key to influencing economic behaviour,” said the VP
He also implied that the donation to the his former school is testament to the value government places on education.
“The education sector mainly falls under the Governance and Inclusive Economic Growth pillars with the pathway towards realisation of Vision 2030 being regulated through the following Thematic Working Groups, that is, Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture, Social Protection as well as Human Capital Development and Innovation. It is important that in our prioritisation to build our economy, we view our context in line with the national focus so that we also contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Gross National Product (GNP) from the provincial and national perspective.”
Telone Chief Executive Officer, Lawrence Nkayi said his company is pleased to have helped the Vice President to improve the school’s infrastructure indicating Beitbridge is a key town for Telone as it houses some of the company’s key infrastructure.
“One of our key Strategic goals is to invest and contribute positively to the development and livelihoods of communities in our different markets. Under the “TelOne in the Community Initiative” we have established 5 key corporate investment clusters namely: Health, Education, Social Welfare, Environment, and Women & Girls Empowerment. Each of these clusters play an integral role in feeding into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice,”he said.
The commissioned borehole is envisaged to accelerate the greening of the school, facilitate the availability of constant clean water and enhancing hygiene.The occasion was also marked by the presentation of first aide certificates to 70 school children and teachers trained by Discovery Ambulances.