Zaka becomes the latest beneficiary of the rural electrification programme
By Brenda Mazhambe
ZAKA, Masvingo — The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has urged communities in Zaka to turn newly available electricity into income-generating ventures, saying access to power should serve as a springboard for rural industrialisation and improved livelihoods.
Speaking in Zaka Central Constituency last Friday during the commissioning of a raft of electrification projects, REA Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Felistus Makumbinde, called on villagers to make productive use of electricity by establishing businesses and community-based enterprises.
“The most important thing is that when we bring electricity to this place, it benefits the villagers, it benefits the whole community,” she said. “We are saying, now that you have electricity here in the area, you need to utilise this electricity for productive use, for income-generating projects, thereby promoting rural industrialisation through the formation of village business units.”
The projects, commissioned by the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Hon July Moyo, include the electrification of Mbuyamaswa Primary School, Mbuyamaswa Clinic, Mbuyamaswa Business Centre and Kwamutevhure Secondary School.
Mrs Makumbinde encouraged villagers to form business units around boreholes, community gardens, horticulture, welding, carpentry and hairdressing salons, saying such ventures would only thrive where power was available.
“All businesses need electricity, and all we are saying is: we have brought it here. People should benefit from the electricity through productive use, and that will in turn uplift their livelihoods,” she said.
Her remarks come as Government, through REA, continues to expand access to modern energy services in rural communities, with schools and clinics remaining a major focus of the electrification programme.
Mrs Makumbinde commended Member of Parliament Hon. David Marapira for his role in supporting development, adding that Government was on course to meet its target of electrifying all schools and clinics countrywide this year.
“In Zaka as a district, there are 32 schools outstanding, and in Masvingo Province there is still quite a number. But what we are basically saying is, we are targeting electrifying all schools and clinics,” she said.
She revealed that due to resource constraints, REA had, in some cases, shifted from grid to solar electrification to widen coverage.
“Grid is a bit costly, but solar is affordable. We have changed the mode of electrification for some of the schools to solar so that we can cover more schools this year and meet the targets,” she said.
Mrs Makumbinde said once schools and clinics had been fully covered, REA would embark on densification, extending power to surrounding homesteads, businesses and other amenities.
“Once we are done with schools and clinics, we will go back to all the areas where we would have provided the infrastructure, now electrifying the homesteads and the other businesses and other amenities that we are not focusing on right now. That is called densification,” she said, adding that this would ensure the provision of universal access to modern energy services across rural Zimbabwe.
