Source: Masvingo gets $2bn devolution funds | The Herald
From George Maponga in Masvingo
Masvingo is next year poised to make major inroads in infrastructural development projects in line with vision 2030 after the province was allocated nearly $2 billion by Government under the devolution programme.
The province this year made remarkable progress in the areas of health delivery, water and sanitation and rural roads development thanks to the devolution war chest that has since set Masvingo on course to rapid socio-economic transformation.
Among the projects bankrolled by devolution funding is the Chombwe piped water scheme in Chivi that was inaugurated by President Mnangagwa last week.
The game-changing scheme chewed nearly $8 million and will supply piped water to more than 10 000 households in rural Chivi, stimulating smallholder irrigation farming which is a boon for food security and incomes for families.
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Clemence Chiduwa said the devolution funds for Masvingo dovetailed with National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
NDS 1 succeeded the Transitional Stabilisation Programme(TSP) and will be succeeded by NDS2 from 2026 to 2030 by which time Zimbabwe is expected to have become an upper middle income society in line with expectations of the Second Republic.
Deputy Minister Chiduwa said the $1,845 billion allocated for Masvingo under devolution next year would spur socio-economic growth in the province.
“We are looking at areas such as water and sanitation and infrastructural development mainly in rural areas with the nearly $2 billion that we have allocated to Masvingo province under devolution,” he said.
“In the area of water and sanitation, the Chombwe Piped Water Project has been a model that should be replicated in other districts and we are very happy with Chivi Rural District Council which managed to bankroll the piped water scheme using devolution funds to the tune of $8 million.”
According to Cde Chiduwa, the commendable success in use of devolution funding by Chivi RDC would see the local authority getting a substantial increase in devolution allocation next year.
“Out of the $1,845 billon allocated to Masvingo in 2021, about $212 million will go to Chivi RDC up from the $29 million which the local authority got this year.”
Deputy Minister Chiduwa commended President Mnangagwa’s administration for implementing devolution which he said put the nation on the path to rapid socio-economic transformation.
Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Ezra Chadzamira has hailed huge strides made through devolution funding in the province.
Minister Chadzamira believes that the health delivery system, road network and infrastructural projects in rural areas across the province are set for a major improvement because of devolution.
Already, almost every district out of the province’s seven has at least two new rural health service centres at various stages of development thanks to devolution funding.
Roads have also been spruced up while piped water schemes have already started changing the socio-economic complexion of remote rural areas.
After the successful launch of the Chombwe Scheme, a similar project is earmarked for Bikita with Minister Chadzamira and his provincial government pulling all the stops to make sure all districts in Masvingo develop such water schemes.
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