Timothy Chizuzu wins ZMF Mashwest Chairmanship
Timothy Chizuzu has won the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) Mashonaland West chairmanship election in a contest he thumped Dr Chiedza Chipangura 29 – 4 votes.
Chizuzu won the election in a vote held at the Odyssey in Kadoma this morning. In his acceptance speech, Chizuzu stated that the province will now focus on building a stronger and more efficient mining community.
Below is Timothy Chizuzu’s full acceptance speech:-
“It is indeed an honour to accept this post that the gracious constituency of Mashonaland West has accorded me. Ndinotenda nemoyo wese. Like I previously stated musha uno ndewedu and it is up to us to build a strong and lasting economy through hard work, sacrifice and diligence. I want to share my thoughts with you on my grand vision and mission to move Mashonaland West artisanal and small-scale mining towards formalization and regularization of the mining sector in order to help in the attainment of the US$12 BILLION roadmap.
My plan is to build a stronger ASM in Mashonaland West through a stronger work plan, safe ASM, and environment-friendly mining with stronger production output. It is our duty to help the government to achieve the 2030 vision where the economy is expected to become an upper-middle-income earner. This way we become part of the value chain. I liken our plans to that of the reconstruction of Mashonaland West to that of Germany after the World war. It took a lot of selflessness and dedication to rebuilding the economy. The Germans worked together with one goal, not minding that there were sacrifices to be made. They realized that for them to live well, they had to become consistent and enduring in building a legacy that would in turn build a first world country.
I wish to recognize all the community-based structures, the youth leaders, the disabled and our female mining community who have a particular role to play in this journey. These people have become the key role players in the mining sector and need to be engaged with, and offered support. Other structures of government, such as local municipalities, will also be interfaced as key stakeholders. All community-based structures would be consulted on community investment programmes. This way everyone is duly informed of all process and there is maximum transparency in all we do.
We have the challenge of building a stronger and more efficient mining community. Strengthening the processes that will increase our output is not an option but an obligation. It is therefore urgent that as a constituency we show the ability to respond to any major challenges, and that this office is brought closer to the people, connecting its decisions directly to its beneficiaries, the citizens of Zimbabwe. As I stated in this election process, therefore, each and every one of my actions will bear in mind the fact that the main recipients of our commitments and decisions are our people. We are working for them.
My priority is to build a more productive, stronger and diverse ASM in Mashwest through all stakeholders’ empowerment, mechanization, training and advocating for the ease of doing business. My plan is to help in the regularization of the informal ASM with a modernized bias towards assisting miners to graduate from subsistence to sustainable business through ensuring a legal regime that gives ASM rights in equal distribution of our resources, duration of rights and security of tenure. It is my vision to revolutionize the ASM in Mashwest through providing accessible institutional, technical and financial support. I will be pushing for exploration on all ASM rights in Mashonaland West for us to be able to qualify and quantify our mineral wealth. The best of Mashonaland West ASM revolution is here. Thank you so much for your trust and faith in me. Let’s get to work and make this province the envy of all.
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get it done! The time has come to set the right course for our country – while we still can! Once again, I am deeply grateful to the constituency for this appointment. Before the people, I pledge to work for the common good and for the principles and pillars of our nation. I pledge to abide by the code of ethics with absolute responsibility and to strictly follow the precepts of the Mining community’s rules of procedure.