In a meeting with Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered to give Zimbabwe 500 buses.
Briefing journalists after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said:
Belarus has offered to help develop Zimbabwe as a regional transport hub using its own experiences. Belarus also offered to provide Zimbabwe with an initial 500 buses with the possibility of increasing the number in future. The TSP talks about modernising public transport and this is part of that. We know our people are suffering a lot and Government interventions have given a relief to our people in the urban areas but there is still a lot more work to be done to make sure we give that kind of relief to people in rural areas and inter-city.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said Government was looking at the latest offer since it was not for free.
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To me this involvement of government in facilitating service provision shouldn’t be a priority at all. We need to analyse where our problems are instead of solving other countries’ problems thing we are solving ours. We have problems to do with basic infrastructure, in particular our road network. Honestly the private sector can look after service provision easy easy but not the maintenance and upgrade of the backbone infrastructure which is the role of government. To me one of the
roles of government is to look after that which no individual or company cannto claim ownership- backbone infrasture- that which all of us use.
I am surprised Prof Ncube saying we have to consider the offer. This is a no brainer. This issue shouldn’t have featured in their discussions in the first place.
Zimbabwe has become a beggar in the continent.I don’t believe that 500 buses to be given to Zim government,what is the hidden agenda? What is the benefit to Belarus government?