‘President a forgiving father’

Wallace Ruzvidzo

Herald Reporter

HIGHER and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Deputy Minister Simelisizwe Sibanda yesterday said he had learnt his lesson and grown from misdemeanours that got him sacked by President Mnangagwa last month.

The President pardoned and subsequently reinstated him.

In an interview shortly after he was sworn in for the second time by President Mnangagwa at State House in Harare, Deputy Minister Sibanda said he was grateful for having been accorded another opportunity by the forgiving leader.

“I have learnt my lesson and that is how we grow as a people,” he said.

Deputy Minister Sibanda expressed gratitude to President Mnangagwa for forgiving him and demonstrating his fatherly nature.

“First of all, it shows the confidence His Excellency has in me and it also shows that we have a forgiving Father. It shows that the President is interested in continuity so that we carry forward the tasks he has given to us towards Vision 2030,” he said.

“That is where we need to improve so that our institutions do not rely on traditional financial issues like fees and Government grants. We need to strengthen other aspects of industrialisation and innovation so that they can raise income from that and churn out graduates who can stand on their own,” he said.

Also sworn in yesterday were Dr Tsitsi Choruma and Ms Sukai Tongogara as commissioners at the Land Commission while Mr Tafadzwa Charles Hungwe was sworn in as a member of the Commission of Inquiry into the Governance of Harare City Council.

In an interview after the swearing-in ceremony, Mr Hungwe, a city lawyer, said he would ensure that Harare residents were heard and issues raised during the ongoing inquiry were resolved.

The President appointed a five-member commission in May to probe

matters of local governance at Harare City Council beginning in 2017.

“It being a quasi-judicial Commission, investigation and consultations with residents are what we start with, I believe it’s a Commission set up to get to visit the residents to hear their complaints, inquire into processes; where they have been lacking and where they have been working and also where they need to be adjusted.

“I think the best people to deal with first are the people of Harare, they know the problems they are facing, so if it’s a procedural issue or a systems issue it will be looked at from that angle. I think that is where the solutions lie,” he said.

Dr Choruma said she would ensure the Government is furnished with policy recommendations regarding land issues.

“The issues of land are ongoing, we have sanctions because of land but this land ought to work for Zimbabweans, it is our heritage, finite as it is, we believe that with a good land administration policy this country can go forward in terms of economic growth.

“As the Land Commission, I think our role is greater around providing recommendations to the State on policies and how we move forward with the progress we have made so far. Land is linked to everything, when we produce more, we can manufacture more. Land is directly linked to industry, commerce, trade, and everything else that makes this economy tick,” she said.

Ms Tongogara, coming in from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission where she was executive secretary, said she would champion a corruption-free administration of land.

“We have got issues of Chiefs that are problematic, and we have had a lot of cases at the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, so I think I am coming in with an insight from the investigative side to actually know what the problem is and probably find solutions that we can recommend to Government to stop the corruption in agricultural land,” she said.