Tendai Rupapa

RESIDENTS must cast away issues to do with political affiliation and work together towards the common goal of maintaining good hygiene and cleaning up cities to keep diseases like cholera at bay, Environmental patron First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa has said.

The First Lady, who is a signatory to the Zero Waste Goodwill Declaration, made the remarks on the streets of Harare yesterday where she again joined hands with spouses of Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, the Harare Mayor and his team, churches including the apostolic sect in cleaning up the city for a second day running.

Shoppers, vendors, visitors and shop owners alike were prompted into action after seeing the First Lady personally sweeping the pavements just like any other ordinary citizen.

She chose densely populated areas of the city where she came face-to-face with discarded plastic bottles, plastics, cardboard boxes and rotten fruits.

The mother of the nation cleaned from Joina City footbridge, down Julius Nyerere Way, turned into Robert Mugabe Road, back into Julius Nyerere Way and then turned into Robson Manyika Avenue and down to Bank Street and up Rezende.

She engaged motorists on the dangers of throwing litter through windows. She also took her time to discuss with shop operators, customers, commuters, drivers and conductors inculcating the values of cleanliness whereupon they saw sense and joined in.

The First Lady met vendors selling food and drinks along pavements with flies hovering around heaps of uncollected garbage nearby. Some vendors were roasting green mealies along Julius Nyerere Way where they neither swept their working spaces nor threw away ash and trash.

Posters pasted on buildings that were an eyesore were removed, thanks to the First Lady.

“My children, some diseases are caused by dirt and we can avoid that by maintaining hygiene. Let us be aware of filth to keep diseases at bay. I want you all alive,” she could be heard telling people.

On a lighter note, as a token of appreciation, a certain youth was so charmed by the First Lady’s hard work and rushed to buy her a cold drink which she heartily accepted.

“Please drink and feel refreshed my mother. You are doing great work. We appreciate you as children and have learnt a lot from you,” he said.

From the spot, the First Lady proceeded to Simon Muzenda Street (formerly Fourth Street) where she cleaned the streets, pavements, and alleys while interacting with the people. She also had words of encouragement for the people.

“From yesterday to this day, I was focusing on cleaning up the city of Harare. I wish to thank the residents of Harare because when they saw me sweeping they came out in their numbers after realising that what they were doing was bad that is throwing litter everywhere.

“We will do this in other provinces, but first of all the respect they showed me as a mother, and the unity they showed amongst themselves to sweep shows that our country yearns to live in peace and clean environment.

“I work with the city council and any day that I may think of doing certain programmes, the mayor is here, the town clerk is here and the councillors are here. We are not doing politically affiliated things like which party one belongs to or which church one attends. We are focusing on people’s lives. This country belongs to us all.

“I want the spirit of peace and unity to prevail amongst us all the time with God assisting us. We all have a role to play in ending cholera ourselves. Even youths, vana mbuya nana sekuru joined and helped me saying let us end cholera. How can we fail if we are united?

“Anyone who comes into the city today will be surprised because it is now airy. All it needed was one to call others. As women from yesterday, if you see a woman leaving her home it means she is resolute. All the women said this is the path they want their children to follow even in our absence,” Amai Mnangagwa said.

Asked about waste separation, the First Lady responded: “I discovered that our country has smart people. They too are rejecting filth. They ask where they take the litter after collecting it and I came up with bins that separate bottles, plastics, cans and even leftover food.

“The bins started being put in Government complexes because this is where the majority of the people visit to get assistance with papers, passports, identity cards and others.

“I gave the Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province Cde Charles Tawengwa the bins to ensure that people throw litter in the bins. The bins are for everyone including the visitors and the workers.”

Ordinary people commended the mother of the nation for her vision and promised to keep the city clean.

One such resident was Miss Monalisa Mukwakwami.

“I entered town this morning heading for my destination and saw our mother going about the wonderful work of cleaning our country, Zimbabwe. The town is looking clean from Julius Nyerere Way going up. I saw it noble to abandon my journey and join her in sweeping, picking litter and disposing of it in bins so that our city maintains good hygiene.

“I thank our mother for this great lesson she has brought for us. Cholera will be kept at bay because our mother is teaching us well and we are going to continue cleaning up from today,” she said with a broad smile.

Similar sentiments were shared by Ms Susan Machingauta.

“We were happy to meet the First Lady as she helped clean the city. She entered our shop and taught us that the place must be smart at all times and we must not throw away litter willy-nilly, all litter must be picked and we were so happy. We are going to carry this forward. She also taught us to separate litter,” she said.

Mr Tendai Shewabaya also interacted with the mother of the nation.

“I am happy with what our mother has done to ensure our working spaces are clean at all times to end the cholera scourge. I sell drinks and Amai arrived to find the place I work from filled with litter, but she left the place with a new face. I encourage others to clean their spaces to keep cholera and other diseases at bay,” he said.

Ms Loice Phiri said she was charmed by the First Lady’s teachings.

“We were so pleased to be with the First Lady as she encouraged us to maintain cleanliness in the homes and the city. This is quite educative and helps us live in smart environments. I encourage women to maintain cleanliness even in our homes,” she said.

Another resident, Codelia Tsenzere, said she would continue sweeping after taking notes from the First Lady.

“I wish to thank our mother for what she has done for us here in Harare. I liked her concept because even where we live there is a mushrooming of illegal dumping places which is contributing to the spread of cholera. I encourage other women to join in and play their part in maintaining cleanliness so that our children grow up knowing this. After all, cleanliness is next to godliness,” she said. –  Herald