Sithembiso Nyoni, a legislator for Nkayi North has urged traditional leaders in Matabeleland North province to engage President Emmerson Mnangagwa to quicken the construction of the 158km Bulawayo-Nkayi Road.
Speaking during a virtual debate hosted by the Nkayi Community Parliament, Nyoni who is also Zimbabwe’s Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister, expressed her concern over the lack of progress made in rehabilitating the road, which has been under construction since 1993.
Nyoni stated that she had met with Chief Mtshane Khumalo, the deputy president of the Chiefs Council, to discuss the matter and requested that traditional leaders engage with the President to understand the reasons for the delay in completing the project. Southern Eye cites her as saying:
The Nkayi-Bulawayo Road is troubling us all. It needs us all to see what we can do about it. I remember the President at some point saying he wanted that Nkayi-Bulawayo Road to be a priority, then we were let down by the contractors.
I had to sit down with the chiefs. I sat down with (Chiefs Council deputy president) Chief Mtshane Khumalo.
I said to him, chiefs are responsible for the development of the whole country. Nkayi- Bulawayo Road is a problem for us. It passes through your chiefdom and in other chiefdoms in Nkayi. So we request that as chiefs, you even go to the President to understand what is holding the project.
What the community should know is that we are all concerned about the project and all efforts are being made for the project to be a success.
In March 2023, work resumed on the road after the Government disbursed funds for the project. The rehabilitation of the road is part of the Government’s five-year economic master plan, the National Development Strategy, which aims to develop sound road infrastructure.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development has allocated a budget for the rehabilitation of 15km of the road annually, and more than 40km has been covered so far, according to State-run media. The road’s completion will facilitate transportation and trade between Bubi, Nkayi, and Kwekwe districts, and is viewed as an essential enabler towards achieving the set targets under the National Development Strategy.