Bulawayo (New Ziana)-Local tertiary institutions should act as think tanks that develop innovations and solutions which assist in improving the living standards of the citizens, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Wednesday.
He said this when he officially opened the two-day National Chief`s Conference at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Exhibition centre in Bulawayo.
The conference, which for the first time brought together chiefs and headsmen under one roof, ran under the theme “Firm, Cultural Foundation for Community Development.”
It is the first gathering of traditional leaders in three years after previous meetings were shelved due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which saw many countries introducing lockdown to curb the spread of the disease.
President Mnangagwa said the era of relying on foreign companies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for goods and services was “now behind us”.
“Long back when we wanted good roads we used to award tenders to foreign companies to construct for us. When we wanted clean water, we requested Non-Governmental Organisations to assist us in drilling boreholes for provision of clean water.
“When we needed good houses, we hired foreign companies to do that for us, pasi nazvoooo. We should have universities and colleges where our children attain knowledge on how to construct modern roads similar to those in developed nations.
“We need to teach our children to become electrical, mechanical and civil engineers to produce products and deliver services that we want in our country,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said he was delighted that the country was now able to run developmental and infrastructure projects without expertise from foreigners.
“I am delighted that the roads and dams we are currently constructing and the boreholes we are drilling using rigs, there is no involvement of foreigners. We are using local expertise,” he said.
He said the country had abundant natural resources which were God given, so its children should acquire skills to manufacture what we it needed.
Communities, he said, should identify their needs and direct them to local universities and colleges, which should provide the services or products.
The Second Republic is constructing a number of dams across the country which include the Gwayi-Shangani, Tuli, Manyange, Sengwa and Vungu using local expertise.
“The engineers, technicians doing the project are locals. The funding being used to construct the dams was sourced locally. We did not borrow from anywhere,” said President Mnangagwa.
Turning to the challenges of electricity, President Mnangagwa said the Second Republic had given itself three years to deal with power shortages in the country.
“We have the sun from January to December, we have coal throughout,” he said.
“So, what is it that we do not have? It is the brains to allow our children to learn skills to produce energy using water, sun or coal which is in abundance in our country.”
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa took the opportunity to launch a medical aid scheme for traditional leaders under the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS).
Traditional leaders will pay 20 percent while the government will contribute 80 percent.
President Mnangagwa also handed over brand new vehicles to Chiefs for use during the course of their duties.
New Ziana
