Business Featured
VIDEO: Emmerson Mnangagwa Installs Street Lights in Harare After 24 Years of Sabotage
2 August 2024
Spread the love

 

By Farai D Hove | ZimEye | Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has finally conducted the installation of street lights in Harare’s Central Business District (CBD) after a prolonged period of actively instructing party supporters to destroy them. This development marks a significant shift in policy and approach from the ZANU PF leader, who had previously opposed such infrastructure improvements due to their association with the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

https://x.com/heraldzimbabwe/status/1818838449946083631?s=46

 

For over two decades, Mnangagwa had maintained a hardline stance against MDC-led initiatives, explicitly directing ZANU PF supporters to undermine service delivery efforts. “An MDC councillor, it doesn’t matter which MDC, all the programs must be destroyed, must die at Harvest House, they must not get to government, because they’re not in ZANU PF,” Mnangagwa is heard saying in footage spanning from 1999 to 2023. “I am issuing you these instructions, to make sure all service delivery is killed at Harvest House,” he added in another recording from the same period.  

https://x.com/heraldzimbabwe/status/1818838449946083631?s=46

Fast forward to August 2024, and the state-owned Herald newspaper made a startling announcement: “Part of Kwame Nkrumah Avenue in Harare CBD [has been] lit with newly installed street lights.” This unexpected move has sparked a wave of reactions across the political spectrum and among the general public.

In a contrasting approach to service delivery, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been vocal about his commitment to maintaining and improving infrastructure. During a recent visit from the outgoing president of Kenya, Ramaphosa emphasized the importance of stable governance and efficient service delivery. “I did say to President Kenyatta that his timing for visiting South Africa is really poor; he should have come on the 1st Nov; as a good friend I know he would have voted for us, so now we have lost, we didn’t have his vote,” Ramaphosa quipped.

Reflecting on the recent electoral setbacks faced by his party, the African National Congress (ANC), Ramaphosa continued, “This is the footsteps if you like of democracy, and we have seen it play out throughout the country, and indeed as president of the governing party, it is disappointing for the African National Congress; but that is how we should accept the clear message of our people on the African National Congress. We have taken heed, we have listened, and this for us is a big setback but it is also a big lesson and we are a party that learns very quickly.”

Ramaphosa further stressed the importance of stable local governance: “And we are going to go to the drawing board, we are going to reflect on all these setbacks, and all we want to see speaking now as president of the Republic I would like to see stability in our local government sector, that whatever coalitions have been formed and are being formed, will result in stable local government, that we don’t have instability and collapse of local govt, and motions of no confidence to a point where service delivery will not be given to the people of a country.”

In his closing remarks, Ramaphosa congratulated those who emerged victorious in the local elections, particularly noting the rise of female metro-mayors. “It behoves well for the State of the Republic of South Africa and we wish those councillors who’ve been elected the very best and may all continue to work well for the people of various communities,” he concluded.

As Zimbabweans come to terms with the newfound illumination of their capital city, the implications of this shift in Mnangagwa’s policy remain to be seen. The installation of street lights, long overdue, might signal a change in the government’s approach to public service and infrastructure, potentially heralding a new era for Harare and its residents.