The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is being upgraded in line with President Mnangagwa vision of creating an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
"We are working on installing modern electro systems that we saw in Indonesia and China so that we do away with the current system,” Advocate Martin Dinha, NRZ Board Chairman, told Sunday News.
"The new system will be a high voltage system that will operate on the railway line and it will be very dangerous for anyone who would want to tamper with it because the whole railway line will be live at any given time,"
NRZ’s 2020-2030 strategic plan will “transform NRZ into a modern railway system and move from the 2,8 million tonnes per year carrying capacity achieved last year and to 4,5 million tonnes by 2023, reach an apex of 6 million tonnes by 2025 and up to 12 million tonnes by 2030.”
The country spent millions of dollars on the overhead electrical system in the early 1980s and it was supposed to last 80 years, at least. The system was in service for less than 20 years and it started coughing blood. The vandals stole the copper conduct, delivering the coup de grace to the system.
A high-voltage third-rail system, NRZ is proposing, is all very well in countries where there is no unauthorised access on the rail track by humans or animals. Other than in marshalling yards like Dabuka, most of NRZ’s rail network is accessible to man and beast 24/7. The live third-rail will have to be carefully shielded to prevent electrocutions.
President Mnangagwa has said by 2023 Zimbabwe generating enough electrical power to meet the nation’s energy needs with surplus for export. So why is NRZ building solar farms to meet its own electricity power needs? It should focus on its core function of providing the nation with any efficiency and reliable rail transport service for goods and passengers - something it is clearly failing to do at present.
NRZ has 10 locomotives in service out of fleet of 67! This is wilfully inadequate for nation with a 4 313 km rail network!
In 2019 there was a big song and dance over the launch of joint venture between NRZ and a group of private investors to supply locomotives, wagons, coaches, etc. needed to kick start the railway service to its former pre-independence glory. The President officiated at the handover of the first batch of locomotives.
None of the new locomotives were ever used because the had the wrong rail gauge! How anyone missed something as obvious as that, beggars believe! The joint venture has since been dropped, the millions of dollars of public money spent has been written off and we move on - a very familiar tale in post-independence Zimbabwe.
Right now, Zimbabwe is in the middle of the corona virus pandemic with no exit strategy. The country needs to vaccinate 10 million people to reach head immunity and so far government has sourced enough vaccines for 500 000. Whereas other nations like SA are set achieve head immunity by the end of this years, Zimbabwe will be luck to do so by the end of 2022!
The country’s public education and health care services have all but collapsed after decades of being starved of funds.
So where is Zimbabwe getting the money to bankroll these ambitious NRZ project when the nation has no money to buy corona virus vaccines and failing to pay teachers and nurses a living wage, etc.?
IMF, WB and most other international financial institutions have long stopped giving Zimbabwe any financial assistance because Zanu PF government are known for being wasteful, corruption and for failing to repay the debts. Even the Chinese, “our all-weather friend” as Mugabe called them, have largely stopped loaning money to Zimbabwe for exactly the same reasons - wasteful, etc.
Ever since the Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, the country’s economy has been in decline because Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who have rigged elections to stay in power. And as long as the country remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. None!
But of course, Zanu PF has never acknowledge the country’s relentless economic decline and the ruins. As far as the party is concerned, it promised the nation “Mass prosperity!”, “Gutsva ruzhinji!” It has not delivered mass prosperity yet but it is on the right track!
Zimbabwe was a middle income nation in 1980 and is one of the poorest nation today. It is only the few ruling elite who are filthy rich and doing so at the expense of the millions of our people are now living in abject poverty. The party will insist mass prosperity for the majority is only round the corner.
We are going to have “a modern NRZ will be moving 4.5, 6.0 and 12.0 million tonnes by 2023, 2025 and 2030 respectively, up from the present tonnage of 2.8 million!” This is just one pixel of the Zanu PF’s cloud cuckoo land collage!
What is happening in Zimbabwe today reminds me of the Parable of talents. Zimbabwe is a very rich country with a great abundance of mineral wealth, rich soils for agricultural productions and lots more besides.
ReplyDeleteOur great wealth should be a blessing but has instead become our curse because it has encouraged our leaders to be wasteful, confident there is plenty more where that came from. And worst of all the leaders have become addicted to their extravagant lifestyles they are using the looted wealth to deny the masses a share of the wealth and to consolidate their hold on power.
Our leaders are the epitome of the servant who got one talent and not only lacked the foresight to invest it but had the chutzpah to be scornful to the master. “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed!” said smart Alec!
There is no denying that Zimbabwe’s abundant wealth is being taken away from us and, like the worthless servant in the Parable, we are being “thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!” And rightly so too!
The nation is being punished for the sins of our leaders just as sons are punished for the sins of their fathers.
“I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
The nation has been sinking into the abyss for 41 years and counting and still we have sat there twiddling our thumbs content to believe in this foolish mirage. Prosperity comes from build on what you have and not from destroying what you have so you have nothing left! How does having less and less make us prosperous, for that is Zanu PF’s vision 2030?
The nation would do well to buy a few diesel locomotives and slowly start rebuilding NRZ instead of going for all these multi-billion dollar projects which are certain to come to naught! In Zanu PF leaders, we have the big spenders!
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening in Zimbabwe today reminds me of the Parable of talents. Zimbabwe is a very rich country with a great abundance of mineral wealth, rich soils for agricultural productions and lots more besides. Our great wealth should be a blessing but has, instead, become our curse.
Zimbabwe’s vast wealth has encouraged our leaders to be wasteful, confident there is plenty more where that came from. Worst of all, the leaders have become addicted to their extravagant lifestyles and giving it up is simply unthinkable. And so they are using the looted wealth to deny the masses a share of the wealth and a meaningful say in the governance of the country. We are stuck with the corrupt ruling elite!
Our leaders are the epitome of the servant who got one talent and not only lacked the foresight to invest it but had the chutzpah to be scornful to the master. “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed!” said smart Alec!
There is no denying that Zimbabwe’s abundant wealth is being taken away from us and, as with the worthless servant in the Parable, we are being “thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!” And rightly so too!
The nation is being punished for the sins of our leaders just as sons are punished for the sins of their fathers.
“I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
The nation has been sinking into hell-on-earth of our own making for 41 years and we have twiddled our thumbs content to believe in Zanu PF foolish promises of economic prosperity. Zanu PF’s insatiable greed and wastefulness has been relentless and destructive.
Prosperity comes from build on what you have so you have more and not from destroying what you have so you have nothing left! Zanu PF’s vision 203 is envisaging prosperity out of destructive waste; that is a mirage!
ZANU PF politburo member and Bindura North legislator Kenneth Musanhi today remembered the needy in his constituency by giving out maize meal in Bindura.
ReplyDeleteThe legislator gave to the needy in Aerodrome, Dawmill and Makusha district the staple diet as part of his social assistance.
Would Musanhi have given out the maize meal to any opposition supporters?
The tragedy in Zimbabwe is that so many people are now living in abject poverty and in need of state assistance. We know Zanu PF has politicised state assistance; the state and the party Zanu PF have merged to become one and the same thing!
South Africa is set to become the first African country to produce and distribute COVID-19 vaccines.
ReplyDeleteTo date, Africa is relying on countries such as India, China, USA and England for all its COVID-19 vaccines which has since made a lot of African countries to be at the backfoot when it comes to vaccinations with most African countries not having yet vaccinated one percent of their population.
However, Dr. Morena Makhoana, CEO of Biovac Institute where the COVID-19 vaccines will be manufactured and distributed from has since said that's about to change, "there is a limited capability on the African continent that's why we have decided to make presidency.
SA will be able to do this because it is one of the few countries on the continent that have managed to retain quality in most fields after independence. In countries like Zimbabwe, Mugabe and company have gone for quantity and quality was thrown out of the window. It is little wonder we have become a nation of vendors and have to import everything!
Zimbabwe has more university graduates per capita than many nations but many of the graduates do not have even common sense. In Zimbabwe one can be a PhD with "O" level and 3 months part time work - do not need "A" or first degree!
@ Mwembe
ReplyDeleteIf Chamisa got 2.6 million then he should be president since Mnangagwa got 2.4 million?
We all know MDC A is gearing to participate in the 2023 elections with not even one token reform in place. If Zanu PF rigged the 2018 elections what is there to stop them rigging the 2023 elections?
The people of Zimbabwe deserve free, fair and credible elections and none of this nonsense of winning rigged elections.