PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday said that Zimbabweans are grateful to God the Almighty for the gift of salvation and eternal life that the citizens can now enjoy as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Mnangagwa said this  while officiating at the annual Zion Christian Church Easter Passover Festival that was held in Masvingo.

More than 150 000 congregants some of them who travelled from as far  as South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique attended the festival at Mbungo Estate in Bikita district.

‘The ‘resurrecting Sunday’ is an important day among believers as we celebrate the defeat over death, by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

“Easter and  the commemoration of the resurrection, allows us to deepen our appreciation and understanding of how blessed we are as Christians and heirs of the Kingdom of God.we are renewed. Tave vatsva (We are born again).”

He said his government’s focus was to be good stewards  over the natural resources which God has to Zimbabwe.

This was in line with the Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi-led church’s  2024 theme ‘Let us focus on our father’s business’.

“We must continue to work harder to feed ourselves, modernise, industrialise and grow our economy, towards lifting many more people out of  poverty into  prosperity.

He assured the nation that  measures  were in place  to scale up efforts to mitigate against climate change-induced drought.

“This year, many of people will not harvest much  because our crops were badly affected by the drought  due to climate change. 

He urged the nation to put their trust in God to overcome the current challenges  the country was facing.

“On its part our Zanu PF government has put in place measures to ensure that food and drought relief for affected communities, is availed in time. No one will starve from hunger. Tinovimba na Jehovah. 

“Therefore we will continue to scale up efforts to mitigate climate change. We are building more dams and also making sure that irrigation infrastructure is in place across all communities.

He added that government was engaging in programmes aimed at capacitating its people to guarantee household food security. 

“The borehole drilling programme and establishment of nutritional gardens are ongoing and will be accelerated.

“We remain with great hope that we have a brighter and more prosperous future.”

VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwengwa  has announced that  Zimbabwe will  host the SADC Industrialisation Week, prior to hosting  the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government  were the country will  assume the Chairmanship of SADC.

The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere said this yesterday during  the seventh post-cabinet  media briefing.

Chiwengwa is  coordinating preparations for the summit that to be hosted at the New Parliament Building in Mount Hampden on 17 August.

Muswere added that  three Inter-Ministerial Committees, embracing all relevant ministries, departments and agencies, were established to spearhead the preparations.

He said that landscaping, rehabilitation and construction of access roads to the venue  of the summit were in progress.

“The landscaping works are 58% complete,  while the civil works are 67% complete. The Public Works Department is  constructing a 2.8 mega litre water tank which is expected to be completed  by June 2024.”

Meanwhile, the City of Harare is installing bio-digesters for  managing waste-water,  repairing and upgrading traffic  signals at key intersections  around the city and  ensuring  that street lights are working.

Three road rehabilitation  projects  which are being  undertaken are the Harare-Chirundu Section from Julius Nyerere Street to 2nd Street-Lomagundi Road to Westgate Traffic Circle; the Harare-Kanyemba Section from Harare Drive to intersection with the New Parliament Boulevard; and  the New Parliament Boulevard, New Parliament Loop Road, Access Roads and Old Mazowe Road.

In addition, a number of selected roads from the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International  Airport to the City Centre and the access roads leading to the main access roads to the New Parliament, are being rehabilitated.

The  Ministry of Information  Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services is coordinating provision of infrastructure to meet SADC Information Communication  Technology requirements and facilitate a seamless flow of meetings and  sessions during the Summit.

SINCE  leaving the university in 1991, The Zim Community Trailblazers Awards 2023 Distinguished Poet awardee Albert Nyathi  has had the opportunity to travel around the world mainly to do performances as a poet and entertainer.

Apart from being poet the multi-talented  Nyathi is also  a writer, actor, music producer, storyteller and philanthropist.

Countries he  has toured include Denmark, Holland, Belgium Hawaii (USA),England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Switzerland, Russia, Wales, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sicily (Italy), Libya, Algeria and Sweden among others.

He has also been involved in poetry writing and performance workshops in schools, colleges as well as tertiary institutions in numerous countries that include Zimbabwe, Botswana, Hawaii, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

From 1998 to date Albert has championed AIDS awareness, gender awareness,
environmental and climate change programmes, voluntary medical male circumcision,
fund-raising projects and music productions on behalf of many organisations.