Mimosa supports devolution
Mimosa Mining Company is pursuing mutually beneficial investment opportunities and identifying non-mining community-based projects in its quest to improve the lives of people in communities where it operates as well as supporting Government’s devolution and decentralisation strategy, the company has said.
On Wednesday the company showed its commitment at the handover of a state-of-the-art ward and a private ward at Zvishavane District Hospital and a two-storey girls’ hostel at Zvishavane Vocational Training Centre in a ceremony presided over by President Mnangagwa.
The cost of the two projects exceeded US$1 million and come at a time when Government is laying the foundation for devolution and decentralisation as a strategy to accelerate countrywide economic growth to upper middle-income status by 2030.
Construction work was done by a company with Zvishavane roots, Gateway Construction, thus further ensuring economic participation by local communities, who not only get the infrastructure but also the jobs of building it.
The construction of a private ward will benefit those that seek state of the art healthcare, which was hitherto only available in major cities like Harare while the investment in the hostel at the training centre is aimed at increasing the number of women and girls able to take courses offered at the centre as they will have somewhere safe and decent to live during training.
Government, through the National Devolution and Decentralisation Policy has already noted the importance of private sector participation towards the attainment of this vision.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Mimosa Mining Company managing director Mr Fungai Makoni said the company’s corporate social responsibility will continue to be guided by the need for mutual benefit with communities, investing beyond the finite mining sector and safe and sustainable mining.
“Mimosa is prioritising partnerships that foster mutually beneficial relationships,” Mr Makoni told the President and others at the handover ceremony.
“We have pursued a vibrant corporate social responsibility programme running under the twin themes of investing beyond mining and let’s go zero initiatives.
“Out of these themes, numerous partnerships have been forged to address the needs of the community, while also advancing our social objectives.
“Through the corporate social responsibility initiatives, various projects have been undertaken, both at a local and national level. The projects have focused on key areas such as education, health, environment, agriculture, sanitation and provision of clean potable water,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the handover ceremony, Zvishavane-Ngezi Member of Parliament Dumezweni Mahwite Mpofu commended Mimosa for its continued investment in sustainable community projects that he said will give Zvishavane District and the Midlands a head start in devolution and decentralisation.
The Herald