President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe had been attempting to create a government of national unity since September of 2008. The western-backed opposition MDC-T had refused to implement a power-sharing agreement. The agreement went into effect on Feb 13.
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By Robert Mukondiwa recently, DAR ES SALAAM
Zimbabwe Sunday Mail
PRESIDENT Mugabe returned home yesterday after attending the inauguration of Tanzanian president Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in Dar es Salaam.
The inauguration was held yesterday morning at the Uhuru Stadium, which was packed to the rafters mainly with supporters of the victorious revolutionary party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) which ushered independence to the Tanzanian people when Mwalimu Julius Nyerere swept into power in 1962.
President Kikwete cruised to a comfortable win that handed him a second and final five-year term as leader of East Africa’s second largest economy after Kenya. He won 61 percent of the vote and with it a mandate to continue his reforms that are grounded on a raft of policies of social cohesion and economic growth.
President Mugabe arrived to thunderous applause which eclipsed all other welcomes given to other dignitaries who graced the occasion, in a country in which he has endeared himself to the masses.
In his acceptance speech, President Kikwete promised to spell out the intimate details of his second term policies at the opening of Parliament soon but emphasised the urgent need for elections to be put in the past and called for a spirit of Umoja-Oneness, as he urged that the divisive spirit that elections tend to foster be buried as Tanzania moves forward as one united and peaceful nation.
President Mugabe joined several dignitaries including Presidents Jacob Zuma (South Africa), Mwai Kibaki (Kenya), Rupiah Banda (Zambia) and Joseph Kabila (the Democratic Republic of Congo) to the grand occasion.
He was welcomed back home at the Harare International Airport by Vice-President Mujuru, service chiefs and senior Government officials.
President unveils grand plan for Copota schools.
Sunday Mail Reporters
PRESIDENT Mugabe has come up with a grand plan to transform Copota Schools and Workshops for the Blind in Masvingo into a leading learning centre in Southern Africa.
A five-year development plan has since been crafted which will ensure that the school transforms into a regional institution.
The development plan was launched by the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Stan Mudenge, at Copota in Zimuto district last week.
The launch coincided with The Sunday Mail’s community assistance project in which several companies were mobilised by the country’s most read family newspaper to donate various goods to the institution.
“The President shared his dream with us when he was here last year and he said: ‘Why not?’” said Dr Mudenge.
“He said Copota should be a regional centre for the blind in Southern Africa. We have prepared a document, which if fulfilled, will make Copota the best centre in Southern Africa.
“We now have the roadmap and if we work together we can make Copota the leading institution.” Dr Mudenge said there was no other school for the blind in Southern Africa whose depth matched that of Copota.
President Mugabe has since become the single largest donor at Copota.
He has been sending truckloads of groceries to the school at the beginning of each term.
Just recently, President Mugabe donated two vehicles, two tractors, a disc harrow, a disc plough and a boom sprayer to the institution.
The President also donated computers to Copota that have since seen the institution employing computer teachers.
“Unknown to many, he (President Mugabe) would just send clothes, matemba, tea leaves and various foodstuffs and chose to remain silent about it,” said Reformed Church in Zimbabwe moderator, Reverend Enos Chomutiri. “We have had many surprises when he would be sending greeting messages and asking about the welfare of the blind children.”
Several speakers at the function also commended The Sunday Mail for embarking on the community assistance project that mobilised donations from several companies.
AON Zimbabwe donated sun screen lotions, lip balms and T-shirts.
The company also brought in eye specialist Dr Solomon Guramatunhu and dermatologist Dr Donald Mutangadura, who conducted eye and skin clinics for students at Copota.
Zimasco donated 400 blankets, African Sun gave bed linen, Nuvita supplied two tonnes of porridge meal and TN Holdings donated 500 chicks.
Other companies that were mobilised by The Sunday Mail for the good cause included Seed Co, which donated two tonnes of chicken feeds and cash, Vuya Resources which gave cash and goods and Blue Ribbon which donated maize meal. Zimpapers Editor-in-Chief Pikirayi Deketeke said the company would look into the possibility of initiating a new publication in Braille.
“We have been challenged and there is much more to be done,” he said.
“We are going to start a process to publish a newspaper for the blind.
We can have that special publication.”
Copota has an enrolment of nearly 300 handicapped and physically challenged students in primary and secondary education.
It was founded by Rev Hendricks and Mrs Margaretha Hugo in 1915.
By 1927, Copota was officially registered as Margaretha Hugo Schools and Workshops for the Blind and started receiving financial assistance from the Government.
The school runs a number of income- generating projects which provide sustenance for the children, salaries for the workers, most of whom are skilled graduates from the school and administrative expenses.
The institute has a Braille printing press and supplies special reading material for the blind to the region. Other projects at the college include farming, chalk making, security fence making, sisal mat making, welding and carpentry.
While Copota remains relatively unknown, the centre has since its inception churned out thousands of graduates, most of them blind, but some with physical, hearing and other impairments.
The graduates are equipped with skills that have enabled them to earn a living in today’s demanding world.
The students are drawn from the country while some have come from regional countries like Botswana, Mozambique and Malawi.
The event to mark The Sunday Mail’s community assistance project at Copota was attended by Chief Serima, Reformed Church in Zimbabwe leaders, Government officials and the newspaper’s Editor, Brezhnev Malaba.
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