Harare mayor Jacob Mafume’s first-quarter 2023 report, presented 17 May.

I AM honoured and humbled to have this opportunity to present the

End of First Quarter Report and also address other critical issues affecting your City.

When I assumed the esteemed office of the Mayor of the capital city of Zimbabwe, Council made a collective decision to do things differently, that is to communicate with the residents and stakeholders of this City. We made a decision to put the resident and stakeholders at the centre of our agenda.

We also made a decision to communicate the bad things happening in your City, the good developments in your City, the achievements made by your administration, the challenges and plans. That is why if we fail we do not hide our shortcomings and if we succeed we blow our own trumpet. We do this because we believe that we have kept this City running in the midst of a plethora of challenges.

At a personal level, I am very passionate about access, the institution we are running is an entity of record and the public and citizens must be able to interact with us as a system.

This decision was purely made for the sake of developing a transparent City which is open at all times. That is why I am happy to deliver this First-Quarter Report which outlines all the key service delivery issues, financial health and human resources issues.

Before I report on the performance of your City during the first three months of the year, it is important that I update the residents on the cholera outbreak in Harare.

1. CHOLERA OUTBREAK

Ladies and gentlemen, the country is experiencing cholera outbreaks in different towns like Beit bridge, Chegutu and Mutare.

We have a cholera outbreak which began on the 24th of April 2023.

I found it prudent to include the cholera issue in this report because it is a major challenge in your City. One case is considered an outbreak because of the high transmissibility of cholera. There are 2 main epicentres of cholera outbreak in Harare namely Budiriro 1 and Glen View 3. The cholera outbreak is suspected to have been was fuelled by the use of water from an unprotected wells in these 2 suburbs and the sources have since been decommissioned.

There are now 39 confirmed Cholera cases in Harare city as at 15 May 2023. 9 of these were reported from Budiriro 1 while 1 is from Dzivaresekwa, 22 from Glen View 3, 2 from Mt Pleasant Heights and 1 from Mbare. Glen View 3 suburb is now the bigger epicentre compared to Budiriro 1. The index case in Glen view 3 is a 26 male who had date of onset of symptoms on 27 April 2023.The cholera hotspots are Budiriro, Glen View and Mbare.

It is important to note that cholera is caused by poor water sanitation and hygiene conditions. Therefore, in order to control the outbreak, the city has implemented short term strategies to improve the water supply in these areas and this seems to be bearing fruits as the Budiriro epicentre now shows much less transmissions.

Some of the short term measures include, carting water to the affected areas using water bowsers, repair of broken down borehole, installation of additional storage tanks on high yield boreholes. There has been significant improvement of municipal water supplies in the affected areas as these areas have been prioritised. We are also strengthening health education in Western District and other affected areas. Health Promoters have been trained to be able to identify cases and also teach the community on case definition of cholera so that all those with signs and symptoms watery diarrhoea are referred to the nearest health institution. Health promoters are also moving door to door in the affected areas. We have a programme to deal with all waste water issues and waste collection in the affected areas. We have been working with our partners in the cholera. MSF [Medécins Sans Frontièrs] have been supporting the response in all the thematic pillars. They have assisted amongst other things in setting up of cholera treatment centre, installation of additional storage tanks at high yield boreholes as well as raising awareness in the community. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the partners who have come on board.

2. SIGNING OF PERFOMANCE CONTRACTS

As you are aware, the Government introduced a performance management system which entails the signing of performance contracts by Cabinet Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Mayors, Chief Executive Officers for Parastatals, Town Clerks and Chief Executive Officers of Local Authorities, Vice Chancellors for State Universities, and other Senior Government officials. I signed my performance contract on the 16th of March 2023 at the State House. I am a Ceremonial Mayor but I signed the contract and I am expected to be assessed for the 2023 financial year. The fact that we signed performance contracts means there is need to relook at the concept of ceremonial Mayors. In my end of year address in December last year, I made reference to the fact that there is need for the relevant authorities to revert to the system of Executive Mayors. The Mayor of Harare is the second most powerful measurable public service deployment in Zimbabwe and calls for the restoration of the post of Executive Mayor continue to grow louder. We hope that the relevant authorities will take heed and do the needful so that we restore sanity in our Cities and Towns.

3. A CITY THAT FIGHTS CORRUPTION

Corruption is endemic in the public sector and when I assumed office I adopted a zero tolerance against this vice which benefits a few individuals whilst the majority suffer. We characterise ourselves as a City at work because we understand the huge task that lies before us – the task of meaningfully transforming the lives of the residents of Harare, who bear the brunt of inadequate service delivery. One of the huge tasks that I have is to fight corruption and I have made sure that the culprits are exposed. We had the Rufaro Marketing scandal where one official was pocketing money at the expense of the whole City and the residents of Harare. Now the entity has a new Board which is tasked with turning around Rufaro Marketing Private Limited. We will be updating you on the progress made in transforming this institution so that it benefits the residents of Harare particularly in the funding of the Social Services programme. I want the narrative to change from a City that breeds corruption to a City that fights corruption. This will enable us to restore the confidence of the ratepayers and also attract the much needed investment.

4. FINANCIAL HEALTH OF THE CITY

The performance of our City is largely attributed to our financial health. We have a serious problem of lack of a fully functional ERP which affects revenue collection and financial management. We still do not have a fully integrated ERP and the Executive is tasked to bring this matter to finality.

Ladies and gentlemen service delivery is a by- product of financial performance. We continue to urge our ratepayers to honour their obligations so that we are able to fund service delivery operations.

The total inflows for the period (1 January to 31 March 2023) amounted to ZW$38.4 billion. For the month of March 2023 the city collected ZW$16.7 billion, included in these inflows is a ZINARA grant amounting to ZW$901 million, Devolution funds of ZW$122 million, City Parking remittance of ZW$495 million, Traditional Beer Levy of ZW$106 million and a donation amounting to ZW$34 million, From the consolidated bill, current obligations and legacy debt, the city collected ZW$11.11 billion and the balance of ZW$5.64 billion was collected from non-billed services and external sources for the month of March 2023.

Collection efficiency for the month of March improved to 55% of the potential from a collection efficiency of 48% in the previous month.

Ladies and gentlemen, debtors stood at ZW$123 billion as at 31 March 2023 from the 1 January 2023 position of ZW$96 billion.

Debtors grew by 28.52% from the beginning of year’s position of 16.17%. The debt configuration are as follows, commerce, industry 52.65%, domestic 40.07%, government, 3.65%, sundry debtors 0.76% and Dormitory towns 2.87 % from the previous month position. A note to the businesses, parastatals and government entities operating in the City of Harare: The practice of sustained non-current debt not being paid up is negatively impacting the city’s finances. If this categories of debtors do not honour their obligations, we will institute tighter control through service disconnections for any debt over 60 days.

Esteemed guests, creditors stood at ZW$22.75 billion as at 31 March 2023 from the 1 January 2023 balance of ZW$9.9 billion.

The major driver to the creditor’s position are as follows electricity charges of 35.47%, water chemicals of 12.29%, statutory obligations 23.68 %, and trade creditors 28.16%. Furthermore, Council has an outstanding obligation of ZWL 0.12 million from FBC bank, PSIP loans ZW$100.95 million and an obligation to service the, US$70.05 million loan facility from China EXIM bank for Morton Jaffray water works refurbishment. Electricity charges remains high as electricity tariffs keep increasing at the back drop of loss in value of the ZWL. Accrued expenditure for electricity as at 31 March 2023 amounts to ZW$8 billion as the city is accruing close to ZW$1.9 billion on a monthly basis. On this monthly accrual is ZW$ 450 million from hostels an unsustainable cost which the city needs to shed off and have the residents install prepaid electricity.

From the breakdown above, electricity is our major cost driver and we are engaging Zesa for concessionary tariffs because our activities are merely public services, we do not operate on a profit making basis. Our water treatment plants and waste water treatment plants consume more power. We are also pursuing the introduction of green energy and as such we are seeking partners to work with in the development of solar farms and we hope to use the solar energy to power the water and sewer treatment plants.

We will be engaging the highest offices from Zesa on the following key issues:

a) Non-payment of royalties by Zesa: Our records indicate that Zesa owes the City of Harare a total over ZW$900 million in royalties. The royalties accrue from the sale of electricity within Harare and the money has not been paid since 2009.

b) Interest: The 200.5% interest per annum that is being charged on outstanding debt is very steep. Our average monthly bill is ZW$1.9 billion and interest is ZW$1.2 billion.

In view of the fact that the City of Harare uses most of the power to produce water, for waste water treatment and for public lighting purposes is justification enough for the downward review of the interest in these areas.

c) Tariff Increase: We appreciate the need for tariff increases we seek exemption from surges in tariffs especially for water production, waste water treatment plants and public lighting.

As a public services provider, we believe that we must be charged concessionary tariffs.

d) Rural Electrification levy: We seek exemption from payment of the rural electrification levy on all our accounts because City of Harare’s customers are mainly the residents who are already charged the levy on their domestic and commercial accounts.

4. CAPITAL SPENDING

In the 2023 fiscal year, City of Harare allocated ZW$41 billion for capital expenditure, nearly half of that amount was earmarked for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme. As at 31 March 2023, a total of ZW$2.5 billion had been expended.

Recapitalisation of service delivery operations remains our priority in 2023. Last year I made an undertaking that we would procure service delivery vehicles and the following pieces of plant and equipment and the update is as given:

i. 3 x30 tonne hook loader and fifteen hook loader bins for waste collection at high traffic areas (these will be delivered in the second quarter of the year)

ii. 15 refuse compactors (procurement process has commenced and we expect delivery of some of the compactors during the second and third quarter of the year)

iii. 5 excavators (3 were paid for and delivered in the first quarter of the year)

v. 5 tipper trucks (these will be delivered during this quarter)

vi. 9 backhoe loaders 3 have been paid for and have been delivered)

viii. 2 graders (one has been partly paid for and we expect delivery during this quarter)

ix. 5 dropside trailers (3 were paid for and delivered in the period under review)

xi. 2 hydraulic platforms (one will be paid for and delivered during the second quarter of the year)

We will update on major procurements of the plant and equipment required for service delivery operations.

This is our promise, to manage the Capital City of Zimbabwe proficiently and well such that we build a sustainable City where residents do not whine about basic service delivery.

Recapitalisation has presented itself as a remedy to solving the service delivery challenges.

5. WATER

Our average water supply coverage was 64% a slight drop from the 2022 average of 66%. This was because of a slight drop in water production due to intermittent power outages. The aluminium sulphate availability challenge has been addressed and we are having deliveries as agreed. There was a bit of stability in the water sector during the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year through we would want all residents have access to potable water. Below is a summary of the interventions in the water and waste water sector in the first quarter of the year.

i. The project for the Implementation of the Chlorine Dioxide Technology commenced and is now ready for commissioning. We are making arrangements for the delivery of all the required chemicals so that we can commission the project which if successful can help the City to save at least US$300 000 per month in water treatment chemicals.

ii. We managed to negotiate with our water treatment chemical suppliers to observe their commitment to constantly supply us with water treatment chemicals under arrangement. This resulted in no chemical-shortage induced shutdown during the first quarter. The ultimate result of this was the increase in water production from an average of 269 megalitres per day in January to 353 megalitres per day in March 2023. We, however, had scheduled maintenance shutdowns.

iii. In an effort to reduce environmental pollution and improve wastewater conveyance, we replaced about 2km of sewer pipes in the first quarter of the year.

iv. We completed the rehabilitation of Firle Sewage Works. This restored our wastewater treatment capacity by 18megalitres. This unit is now treating wastewater in the Blue Band category of the Ema Effluent Standards.

6. WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste management remains a major challenge in your City. This is largely due to low fleet availability and the culture of inherent littering that is in the culture of some of the residents of Harare. In the first quarter of 2023 fleet availability remained depressed with an average of 18 trucks per day which is not ideal considering that we require 36 refuse compactors per day.

The situation is very gloomy but we choose hope hence the decision to buy 15 refuse compactors in the 2023 fiscal year. Door-to-door refuse collection coverage stood at 42%, which was a decrease of 10% as of 31st December 2022. The decrease was as result of decrease in fleet availability. We also launched Operation Chenesa Harare, an initiative which was meant to mobilise communities and corporates to participate in cleaning up the City. However, this initiative did not yield the anticipated results and the City is now planning to implement community based refuse collection as a broader strategy to ensure that we deal with the challenge of illegal dumpsites and also improve on collection efficiency. In line with the integrated solid waste management plan, we are constructing waste transfer stations and the main one at Kelvin Depot will be completed in the second quarter of the year and construction of the one in Glen Norah will be done again in the second quarter. The problem of waste management is perennial but in all these circumstances we choose hope and we have a firm belief in the fact that this challenge can be solved. Recapitalisation of the Amenities Division is key and various pieces of plant and equipment are being procured this year. We still believe that Harare must work, hence the mantra Back to Basics for Sustainable Service Delivery.

7. RESTORING ORDER IN THE CITY

Council`s traffic enforcement apparatuses and approaches are meant to make Harare trafficable by improving compliance levels.

After noting the chaos and disorder in the City largely attributed to traffic by- laws violations, Council passed a resolution on the 7th of February 2023 that compelled the Traffic Enforcement section of the Chamber Secretary’s Department to enter into a partnership with City Parking (Pvt) Ltd for clamping and towing vehicles for traffic offences within parking bays and heavy vehicles plying the routes in the Central Business District, residential areas and other undesignated areas across the City. The idea was to bring sanity and restore order in the City and this was a successful venture as motorists are now complying with our traffic by- laws. A 50/50 revenue sharing was agreed upon and a 3-month trial run is being conducted by City of Harare and City Parking (Pvt) Ltd. Despite the resistance to implement the resolution City Parking managed to penetrate the market and during that period a total of ZW$158 million and US$89 thousand was remitted to City Harare for traffic enforcement revenue share.

There was a huge outcry on the level of penalties imposed on the offenders and as a listening Council we made a decision to reduce these but we still maintain that a penalty must be deterrent enough so that would -be offenders think twice. We all appreciate that the partnership assisted in bringing order and sanity in our City.

8. ROADS PROGRAMME

Insufficient budget allocation to fund road maintenance activities remains a major challenge in the Roads programme. During the first quarter of the year we had a meeting with the Zinara Board Chairman and his team and I expressed our displeasure over the formulae for the disbursement of the Zinara grant and the delays in the actual payout of the funds. We agreed that Zinara would convene a meeting with all road authorities to discuss these critical issues and we are still waiting for the platform so that this problem can be addressed for the benefit of the citizens.

In the first quarter we managed to maintain 133km of our road network and no progress was reported in the construction of new roads and reconstruction. Our roads continue to be in a bad state.

Ladies and gentlemen, during the quarter under review an average of 65% of installed traffic signals were functional. There is a lot of vandalism of road furniture as well as road accident damages.

9. PLANNING

The following are the key highlights:

 19 Private Subdivision Permits Granted were granted

 31 Cluster Developments permits were issued

 53 Straight forward permits were issued Review of Enterprise Corridor Local Development Plan

NO.60. was approved by Council in January but work not yet commenced.

 No progress on Harare Master Plan and procurement bottlenecks in this area are being addressed.

10. HEALTH

During the quarter under review we had the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of Marlborough Maternity Clinic, ECD Centre and Fire Station. In most low-density areas in Harare our clinics only offer ante natal and post-natal services and no deliveries, and the women have been struggling. As Harare, we record an average of 1500 deliveries per month in our poly clinics, but Mbare records the highest averaging 500 deliveries per month.

As a City our mandate is to provide primary health care, and community participation is a critical component of primary health care.

11. HOUSING

We managed to allocate only 56 stands since January and this is sad as the Housing waiting list is currently standing at 11 282 active members as at 31 December 2022.

The City is finalising the Human Settlement Policy which is coming in as a review to the current Housing Policy. We will then unveil the new housing models that the City will implement going forward particularly as we seek to address the outstanding issues in the pay schemes that are operational in Harare. Going forward the City will not allocate unserviced land because this has created a lot of problems and has promoted the mushrooming of illegal settlements. We will during this quarter capacitate our Department of Works with the requisite plant and equipment for us to be able to service land. The capacitation will be done using the funds from our Estates Account as governed by the applicable law.

12. EDUCATION SECTION

Two Council Schools were opened during the quarter under review namely Glaudina and Budiriro 7 Council Primary Schools bringing the total number of Council primary schools to 35. Our greatest challenge under school’s administration is over enrolment with most schools’ enrolment over 1500 learners. The City is currently constructing 2 more schools through Public Private Partnerships to increase access to education.

13. VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRES

There is a marked increase in enrolment following the reduction of fees. Enrolment stands at 70 students as compared to 25 students during the same period last year. The Section is working towards the introduction of short demand driven courses. Vocational Training Centres are facing several challenges including dilapidation of infrastructure, shortage of machinery and equipment as well unavailability of training materials. This is an area for collaboration with some of the corporates and organisations represented here.

14. PRODUCTION UNIT

The production Unit has the capacity to produce all protective clothing for the City of Harare. The focus is to ensure that the Unit is fully supported so that we reduce costs of uniforms.

15. SOCIAL SERVICES SECTION

Rufaro Stadium

The refurbishment of Rufaro Stadium commenced at the beginning of the year with the Project team working on extension of changing rooms, maintenance of the pitch, installation of irrigation system, general maintenance (plumbing, painting and electrical repairs, surfacing, construction of perimeter wall and carpark surfacing among other works. The Project was under targeted and can only be completed by End of May 2023. The work done at Rufaro Stadium so far and the progress made through the partnership with City Parking Private Limited demonstrates that as a City we can do more to rehabilitate our social amenities if we get our priorities right.

We are going to replicate this same method as we strive to renovate most of the social amenities in Harare. We are duty bound to provide social amenities and we will do that.

16. YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

We are constantly engaging young people to participate in various socio-economic activities. During the quarter under review, 50 youth groups were mobilised and registered for skills training and sustainable livelihoods. We are doing this as part of the broader strategy to fight against the pandemic of drugs and substance abuse which is now rife in our country.

17. WOMEN DEVELOPMENT

The City mobilised and registered 60 women groups who participated in skills training and sustainable livelihoods programmes at various community centres. The greatest challenge affecting women development programmes in the City is unavailability of resources for empowerment initiatives. We urge corporates represented here to partner the City in this noble initiative.

18. SWIMMING POOLS

Three (3) swimming pools (Les Brown, Greendale, Mount Pleasant) were operational during the period under review. I have challenged the Executive to put in place measures and ensure that all our swimming pools are open and accessible to the residents.

Our idle youths must have access so that they are occupied and do not resort to drug and substance abuse which is very endemic in our communities.

19. SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT

The City reviewed the Informal Sector Policy and now has an operational the Small to Medium Enterprises Development Policy.

The City is also going to further develop the SME’s strategy which is going to be read together with the Infrastructure Development Plan. This is an area where we are calling upon corporates here to partner the City in developing decent infrastructure for the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs.

20. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENTS

We held 48 monthly interdepartmental service delivery meetings and 19 quarterly ward based feedback meetings ensuring increased participation and engagement in service delivery activities. Clean-up campaigns were held. Most areas could not manage because of continuous rains during the days of clean up during the first period of the first quarter.

21. EMERGENCY SERVICES

The Emergency Services Division is one of the responsive and functional sections with the City of Harare. This section has recorded success though in terms of the tools of the trade, they remain heavily undercapitalised. The status remains as reported in the End of Year

Message I presented last year in December.

We continue to mourn the state of our Emergency Services equipment which have deteriorated over the years. We are currently operating with 6 tenders out of an ideal total of 25 and 6 ambulances out of an ideal of 32+ ambulances.

We are also going to make efforts to recapitalise this critical section in our City. In the 2023 financial year, we are going to procure ten ambulances. The procurement of fire tenders is covered under the Capital Development Plan.

22: DECENTRALISATION

To improve organisational performance and accountability, several strategies have been adopted by the City since 2012. One of the strategies is decentralisation. To address the administrative and operational inefficiency, the city is fine-tuning a new decentralisation policy. Our earlier efforts had been constrained by lack of policy clarity, limited financial support, departmental power asymmetries, and limited buy-in from stakeholders some of whom deliberately undermined decentralisation implementation. Learning from these experiences, the city combined development of a decentralisation policy and re-structuring itself in a way that sufficiently addresses the current challenges. A new decentralization approach has been adopted. It comprises of the principles of deconcentration, delegation and devolution. These principles are in line with the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The policy will help the city enhance

i) capitalisation,

ii) stakeholder engagement,

iii) service delivery capacity,

iv) build sustainable city systems, and

v) address previous ‘decentralisation implementation’ issues. Effective implementation of decentralisation and related policies, will enhance the city’s capacity to deliver services and contribute to national efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and bringing services closer to communities.

23. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

The year started on a good note, with most of the four companies (Harare Quarry, City Parking, Sunshine Development and Rufaro Marketing) submitting and presenting their 2023 Annual Business Plans to Council.

We developed a Commercialization Strategy which provides a clear pathway for the investment into the City. The following is worth noting from our strategic business units:

i. CITY PARKING (PVT) LTD (CP): City Parking (Pvt) Ltd submitted their 2023 Annual Business Plan and it was approved by Council. City Parking Pvt Ltd revenue contribution to City of Harare for the year ended 2022 amounted to ZW$758 369 238 against a budget of ZW$779 591 392; 3% below budget. City parking increased revenue share to the Shareholder from 20% – 23% beginning January 2023.From January –March 2023 a total of ZW$495 473 399.57 has been remitted to City of Harare for the 23% revenue contribution to the shareholder. Furthermore, given an excellent performance of City Parking (Pvt) Ltd they were engaged by the Shareholder to renovate Rufaro stadium in partnership with the City of Harare, to date the works are now at 60% complete to finish the renovation of Rufaro stadium.

HARARE QUARRY (Pvt) Ltd (HQ)

 Harare Quarry (Pvt) Ltd, did not manage to submit their 2023 Annual Business Plan and the Company performed way below capacity in the year ended 2022.

 Council approved to reshuffle the Board and consider City of Harare user department representation on the Board to ensure that all decisions or operations are inclined with the needs of the primary customer – City of Harare. The Acting Director of Works and the Chief Roads Engineer were appointed to the Board

 To tap into the management expertise of performing Strategic Business Units one executive from City Parking was appointed in the Harare Quarry Board.

 The Board was given a new mandate to enhance the performance of the Company.

SUNSHINE DEVELOPMENT PVT LTD

 Sunshine Development (Pvt) Ltd Harare Sunshine Development remitted a total of US$72 000 for 2020 and 2021 which is 30/70 dividend share from Mbudzi People’s Market proceeds, and an interim of US$40 000 for 2022.

24. GOVERNANCE ISSUES

On the Executive front, we remain with 90% of the senior executives in acting capacities because the substantive Directors are dealing with issues before the Courts. This is a major challenge in terms of leadership stability because holding a position in acting capacity brings in a lot of uncertainty.

25. FOCUS AREAS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR

My philosophy of governing may seek to inspire, but it is also grounded in the practical. As your Mayor, I am dedicated to providing an efficient and effective form of government. In these unsettled financial times, we must do more with less, never fail to deliver services citywide, and constantly try to find ways to use cost-saving measures and innovation to help us realise our dreams. We must keep the positive momentum growing. So moving forward we are going to focus on the following key areas:

a) Increase water production so that most communities have access to water

b) Improve sanitation and hygiene through regular collection of waste

c) Continue with the recapitalization drive and procure more pieces of plant and equipment

d) Decentralisation of service delivery so that services are brought closer to the people

e) Avert the further spread of cholera in the City

f) Strengthen financial management through completion of outstanding audits

g) Creating good work values and a culture of accountability to results.

26. CONCLUSION

I believe we can turn around the City if we get our priorities right.

As I conclude, allow me to appreciate the residents of Harare for their endurance and forbearance during times when service delivery was at its lowest.

Commendations also go to the Executive led by our Acting Town Clerk the Directors, Managers and all the employees of the City.

Serving citizens is sometimes a job that is not appreciated but I am grateful your resilience even during difficult times. I express my profound appreciation to the Councillors of the City of Harare for allowing me to lead. My Principal the Change Champion in Chief is fully appreciated for honouring me with the responsibility of serving as the Mayor of the Capital City of Zimbabwe. In delivering this First Quarter Report, we are reaffirming our promise to building a City that we all clamour for, a city that is open and transparent.

It would be amiss for me if I do not address the issue of elections. We are in the elections season and we continue to preach peace which is critical for any development processes to take place. Peace is the path we take for bringing growth and prosperity to society. If we do not have peace and harmony, achieving political strength, economic stability and cultural growth will be impossible. So peace must prevail in the 2023 elections.

I THANK YOU.