First Lady leads Harare total clean-up

Tendai Rupapa

Densely populated parts of Harare central business district (CBD) like the Copacabana terminus were left squeaky clean and with a breath of fresh air, thanks to Environment patron First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa who joined hands with Government officials, council authorities, anti-litter agencies and ordinary citizens to clean up the city as part of the National Clean-up Day, which is observed on the first Friday of every month.

Dubbed “the total clean up,” Harare CBD was divided into 10 zones with each zone being manned by a different ministry, department and agency.

President Mnangagwa designated every first Friday of the month National Clean-Up Day to foster cleanliness and onboard citizens’ participation in environmental management.

Amai Mnangagwa led her team from Jason Moyo and Cameroon, via Copacabana up to Julius Nyerere way.

With a broom and a shovel in her hand, the First Lady meant business during the clean-up.

She was not just leading in cleaning the streets but was also entering shops and cleaning up as a way of encouraging shop owners to keep their shops and surroundings clean.

The mother of the nation encouraged businesspeople to have bins in their shops and left bin liners to those without litter disposal facilities.

Stormwater drains were being cleaned with unsightly heaps of garbage being retrieved.

The collective effort witnessed men, women and youths emulating the First Lady and joined in cleaning the city, giving it a smart outlook, a development that is envisaged to also help keep diseases at bay.

Amai Mnangagwa called upon residents to make cleaning their environments a daily routine and not wait for the designated day to conduct the exercise.

Those who joined in the cleaning exercise, promised to carry forward the clean-up initiatives so that they reap the associated benefits.

The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) director Mr Steady Kangata said the Harare CBD had been divided into 10 zones with each zone having people cleaning it up.

“The whole idea by our patron, the First Lady, is for people to take ownership when it comes to cleanliness, this is why we have many teams around the city today. We have been given the direction, we have been given the way forward already by our patron the First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, who is very instrumental in terms of the clean-up programme that was launched by His Excellency in 2018 and further to that, she is also spearheading the zero waste movement, so, she is in a bid to bring all these small pieces together to come up with a formidable force.

“Some sections of the city are commendably clean but we want to do better as we prepare for the 44th SADC Summit for Heads of State and Government. We need to prepare for visitors. It’s within our culture as Zimbabweans, each time you are expecting a visitor you also plan accordingly but Amai wants this to go beyond the SADC summit. The beauty of the SADC Summit is that it’s a good impetus for us to go beyond it because we would have set a standard for people to adhere to a clean environment. Amai is saying that should remain everyone’s responsibility encouraging people to go out saying everyday should be a clean-up day. This clean-up for the month of August, we are dubbing it “the total clean up” of the central business district not just for Harare but for other towns and cities,” he said.

Seeing the First Lady leading from the front, some shoppers, vendors and passersby saw it befitting to join in.

Mrs Choice Jiya said she had been inspired by the mother of the nation.

“I just entered the city centre going on about my business and saw the First Lady cleaning up and I was thrilled and decided to join her because as women, even in our communities, the First Lady said we must clean them every day. We must not just wait for the national clean up on the first Friday of the month. We must always be smart in the homes. I want to thank Amai for setting a good example for us by showing us that as women we must be smart at all times. Smartness begins with me as an individual and cascades into the communities and the areas around us,” she said proudly.

Mr Pious Chidzenga, president of the Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors (Zudac) said the mother of the nation is always setting good examples for the nation.

“We are responsible for the ferrying of passengers in the city. I am thankful for what has happened today that our mother has come to sweep for us at our workplace at Copacabana. It is a pleasing thing that she has undertaken so I am here to encourage everyone, including transport service providers and all associations that this thing we have been shown by our mother, let us embrace it and appreciate that we must not throw away litter everywhere. We must place litter bins in our vehicles and encourage our passengers not to throw litter over the windows but place it in the bins and keep observing this good thing we have been shown,” Mr Chidenga said.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Mrs Anna Mandola (66).

“I am grateful for the good hygiene practices that we have been taught to observe by the First Lady. I am a vendor and encourage my peers, because we are mostly to blame as vendors, that we must place litter in bins so that we keep our environment clean. Selling in dirty surroundings creates a breeding ground for diseases. Nowadays there are a lot of diseases and we must exercise cleanliness to keep them at bay,” she said.

The views dovetailed with those of Tinashe Mubvuyiwa, who felt youths have a big role to play in clean ups since they were the most active part of the population.

“I appreciate this initiative of a clean-up campaign that we have with our First Lady. It is not something that will end after the Sadc Summit but it must go forward as we motivate others so that our environment is always clean. Youths must spearhead the idea of cleaning up the environment since we are the most active generation and are at the forefront of disposing litter through negligence,” he said.

Mr Edmore Tirivanhu Gwengwe, chairman of the Harare Youth Transporters Association, said he was filled with joy.

“We were gratified today with what our mother Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa has done for promoting cleanliness in shops, on the roads and we are carrying forward the practice. In the ranks we work with drivers, conductors and this is a place teeming with vendors. We shall carry forward the programme as we copy the good things that our mother is always doing. We promise that every day we shall select an hour to clean up since the areas we operate from are frequently littered,” he said.

During the clean-up, alert police officers confiscated illegally procured and unregulated medicines that were being sold by unlicensed dealers on the streets. – Herald