KANYEMBA BORDER POST IN MASHONALAND CENTRAL SET TO BE ELECTRIFIED SOON.
Construction of electricity lines to supply electricity to various institutions in the Kanyemba Border Post in Mbire District of Mashonaland Central province is now complete and REF is set to light up the area in a few months’ time.
REF moved on the site to start electrification of Kanyemba area in November 2019 but could not do much owing to disturbances caused by Covid 19 pandemic as well as inadequate project materials supply.
Mashonaland Central Provincial Rural Electrification manager, Eng Brian Nyakasaka told the magazine reporter that in the beginning of the 2021, REF intensified its work despite Covid 19 drawback and managed to build 30 km of High Voltage (HV) lines and 3.1 km of Medium Voltage (MV) lines to provide access to energy to the border area.
Eng Nyakasaka said they were working on the 600 metre muddy and water logged stretch crossing the Mwanzamutanda river from Chapoto to Mariga to electrify public institutions in the villages inhabited by the Doma people.
“This area which is water logged needs special structures of steel poles and we have them,” he said.
“The delay to complete work was to wait for water from the Mwanzamutanda river to subside so that we proceed and we have since completed construction of the lines,” he added.
The other area which gave headache to the manager was the construction of the 120 metre line to the Immigration Offices where the badly damaged road is inaccessible by both light and heavy duty vehicles. The manager worked out a plan to reach the Immigration offices and line construction is complete.
Eng Nyakasaka said that construction work was complete on the rest of the upcoming town but they had shelved mounting of transformers until the major line being built by ZETDC from Zambia to Zimbabwe across the mighty Zambezi River is complete and energized. He fears vandalism of transformers when the feeder line is not complete.
“We are now at 93 percent complete and we hope to switch on electricity in the shortest possible time.” he said.
The decision to speed up the electrification of Kanyemba came after government decided to build a town right at the border to promote tourism and socio- economic activities in the area were Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique meet.
Under the current arrangement, REF is building electricity infrastructure and connect schools, lodges, government offices, clinics, homesteads and other facilities while the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company is constructing a line from Zambia to Zimbabwe across the mighty Zambezi river.
Kanyemba is a rural centre in the extreme north eastern part of Zimbabwe in Mbire District of
Mashonaland Central province. The centre shares the border with Luangwa in Zambia and Zumbo in Mozambique
