President a man of his word President Mnangagwa presents computers to the Archbishop of Bulawayo Alex Thomas Kaliyanil at State House in Harare yesterday. – Pictures: Joseph Manditswara.

The Herald

ON Sunday, President Mnangagwa attended the centenary celebrations of St Joseph Mission in Kezi, took part in a Catholic Mass and heard the challenges that the community of Matabeleland South province is facing.

Yesterday, barely 24 hours after the church service, the President kindly responded to the people of Kezi, who had requested an ambulance, vehicles, computers and other essentials.

During a ceremony at State House in Harare early in the morning, President Mnangagwa handed over an ambulance and two off-road vehicles to the church leaders who had travelled all the way from Kezi, more than 500km from the capital.

 

 

The President does not only talk, but walks the talk, said an emotional Archbishop Alex Thomas of the Archdiocese of Bulawayo, soon after taking receipt of the vehicles and laptops.

“We are extremely grateful to the President for the promise he made yesterday, a promise he has fulfilled today. It was really a great shock and surprise to me that he is a President who listens to the people and walks the talk immediately,” said Archbishop Thomas.

Leading by example, the President does not only walk the talk, but also leaves no-one and no place behind, as he spent Sunday with the people of Kezi, a far-flung area that the bishop said is rather remote and did not expect to host the Head of State and Government.

“We are very grateful that he came to St Joseph yesterday (Sunday), a remote place. He was with us celebrating the Holy Mass, thanking the Lord for the 100 years of St Joseph’s Mission. He promised the people and he saw the needs of the people and he responded to that need very quickly. We are extremely grateful to him and grateful to God and we pray that the service that the President renders to the people continues for a long time,” said Archbishop Thomas.

Established in 1923, the mission, which has a hospital, a school and a church, has played an integral role in the life of the community that also gifted the nation with Zimbabwe’s Founding Father, the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo.

Parish Priest, Father Innocent Ndlovu, who shepherds his flock at the church, was short of words as he took delivery of the vehicle that is certain to improve the livelihoods and circumstances of the community.

“I don’t know where to begin, I am very much happy, this is enormous support that we have received as the community of St Joseph. He had Holy Mass with us yesterday (Sunday) in Kezi and today we are here in Harare receiving vehicles that he promised us. We pray for the President, we pray for the country and we are really grateful to the President,” said Fr Ndlovu.

On Sunday, the President also promised to deliver food to the community that lies in an unfavourable agricultural region, and he has, in less than a day, fulfilled that promise.

It was not only the Roman Catholics from Kezi who left State House all smiles, but also Kwekwe District Hospital that also received an ambulance.

Superintendent of Kwekwe Hospital Dr Patricia Mapanda said the President is building the country brick by brick, leaving no one and no place behind in the journey towards Vision 2030, to become an upper-middle-class economy.

“I cannot fully express my happiness because of what the President has done to Kwekwe District, he gave us an ambulance. Kwekwe is a place of accidents, mine accidents, road accidents, and this is a shot in the arm. Just yesterday we had an accident that needed quite a big ambulance”.

Although the ambulance was donated to Kwekwe, Dr Mapanda said it will help communities in other districts who are often referred to Kwekwe District Hospital.

“He was our patron before he became the President, so to us, he is our father. This is going to help a lot of communities. We deal with so many hospitals; Gokwe transfers to us, Zhombe transfers to us, and sometimes even Kadoma and Sanyati transfer to us even though they are in Mashonaland West. We have a father who is building the country brick by brick, we are so happy about the brick he has added to our hospital. We hope our staff is going to appreciate this and use the ambulance carefully,” said Dr Mapanda.

 

 

 

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