Own Correspondent|President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday led the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the new parliament building in Mount Hampden in the outskirts of Harare.
Several Zimbabweans have however questioned the prioritization of the project at a time when the country is in dire need for money to fund social services delivery like medication and equipment at hospitals.
“A disgraceful vanity project completely unnecessary in this sea of deprivation,” said a social media critic Piers Pigou.
“l wish l could celebrate with you my president on such a massive project but today am tired. l spent the whole day in a bank queue looking for money and from there l started chasing on forex dealers to change my money because the pharmacy won’t take bonds,” said another critic Thandazani Nkomo on Mnangagwa’s Facebook post.
President Mnangagwa had written as follows on his Facebook page:
Today, we laid the foundation stone for the new Zimbabwe’s new Parliament building, a symbol of a new era.
I urged all parliamentarians to understand that in this new era they have a critical role to play as they enact and pass laws that will propel the attainment of our national vision 2030.
Hard work, diligence, commitment to duty and accountability must be traits embedded in all parliamentarians in the Second Republic.
The relocation of the Parliament building to Mt. Hampden will also be a catalyst for further development of the entire area. Government buildings, banking halls, shopping malls, residential areas and recreational facilities will culminate in the emergence of a truly new city.
We all look forward to the speedy completion of this very important national project.