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Cde Cain Mathema

Chronicle Reporter
MATABELELAND North Provincial Minister Cain Mathema has said civil servants deserve decent accommodation as he condemned the present arrangement of sharing houses.Speaking at an electricity switching on ceremony at Guwe Primary School in Nkayi on Friday, Mathema said civil servants were doing a great job under difficult circumstances and should be rewarded.

“It pains me that civil servants share houses and you will find three in a house. They should be able to live decently, enjoy their privacy and invite their relatives,” said Mathema.

“My dream is that electricity is connected to all schools and households in this area.”

He said each teacher should be given between five to 10 hectares of land for planting of crops as a way of incentivising their noble service.

“We want to see diamond-mesh wire surrounding the school so that goats don’t enter. I’m there in the office if you need assistance.
“We don’t want laziness. It’s not even wanted in the Bible. Laziness is the mentality that was instilled in us by Rhodes and the colonisers,” said Mathema.

The provincial minister also shared his vision of seeing villagers getting piped water for irrigation purposes.

“We want to see piped water even in schools. It has been done in Tsholotsho so I will bring Zinwa so that the issue is looked into. Each household should be able to cultivate crops round the year and not rely on the rains only. The proceeds from selling their crops in their fields would then pay for water and electricity,” he added.

Mathema said the initiative would ensure food security in line with the government’s economic blueprint, Zim-Asset. “In some of the NGO sponsored projects you’ll see elderly people made to dance for a little portion of land. The chairperson will then loot things and people fail to benefit,” he said.

The switching on of electricity at the school is part of the Isibane Sentuthuko Rural Electrification Community Project comprising Zinyangeni and Guwe rural health centres, Zinyangeni, Duhamzondo, Gwitshi and Guwe Primary schools.

The project also includes Hadane Secondary and Guwe High schools.