‘100-day cycles key’ 

Source: ‘100-day cycles key’ | The Herald 02 SEP, 2019

Mr Nick Mangwana

Herald Reporter
Government’s 100-day cycles that serve as the building blocks to the realisation of the Transitional Stabilisation Programme and Vision 2030 are progressing well and assisting Government achieve its goals of bettering the lives of Zimbabweans, Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana has said

The first 100-Day Cycle that began on January 1, 2018 and ended on April 10, 2018 saw 75 percent of the goals in the green category (depicting that they met the planned target), 18 percent were in the amber category while seven percent of the goals were in the red category and did not perform well. The projects that did not perform well were rolled over to the second 100-Day Cycle.

The challenges that militated against the full attainment of some of the projects included the constrained fiscal environment, scarce foreign currency and conformity to procurement and legal processes.

The second 100-Day Cycle began on February 28, 2019 and ended on June 7, 2019.

A total of 91 projects were implemented during the cycle across 19 ministries, departments and parastatals.

Out of a total of 91 projects, 58 projects (63,7 percent) closed in the green category, while 18 projects (19,8 percent) closed in the amber, showing satisfactory progress and 15 of the projects closed in the red, an indication of failure to meet the planned targets.

Projects that performed below the expected targets were affected by a number of factors that included price escalations, multi-tier pricing systems, drought, as well as the devastating effects of Cyclone Idai. Government is currently on the third 100-Day Cycle.

Mr Mangwana said while some of the projects may appear to be unrelated they form the building blocks for the attainment of Vision 2030.

“By way of an example, let us assume that the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services is building five radio transmitters every 100 days. It would mean in a year it would have built at least 15 transmitters.

“From 2018 to 2030, it would have built 180 transmitters in total, achieving its goal of a modernised access to information. This will result in the whole country having full radio transmission and citizens accessing information.”

“To indicate how these building blocks have a holistic developmental impact we need to use a second example for illustrative purposes. Let’s now assume that the Ministry of Energy is building transformer sites every 100 days. It also means they would have rolled at least 15 sites every year. This would then bring access to electricity to many parts of the country in 12 years. This means an enhanced access to energy as a development driver. These rolled out to 20 operational ministries and their parastatals would result in many projects which are propelling Zimbabwe’s developmental agenda.”

He also indicated that although some of the projects appear to be uninteresting they were in keeping with the New Dispensation’s undertaking to solve problems and exploiting opportunities for the people with which it has a social contract.

“There is so much happening, which taken individually, may not excite many because somehow some prefer political contestation news to issues of development. But when a road is constructed from Chivi turn-off to Mhandamabwe, and another is constructed from Tanganda to Ngundu, it may not in isolation ring a bell on how this augments the journey towards Vision 2030, but this is part of the brick upon brick building of the country.

“Roads link producers of goods to markets, workers to jobs, the sick to hospitals and students to schools. So while it may not be apparent how each 100-Day project is a giant step towards attaining Vision 2030 that actually is what these projects are about,” he said.

The implementation of the 100-Day Cycle projects is centred on the key elements that capture Government’s vision for: economic growth and development; re-engagement with the global community; promotion of investment and trade; nurturing a responsive and high performance culture in the public service and engendering greater impetus in the provision of strategic infrastructure.