Story by Wadzanai Mandima
GOROMONZI High School and St Paul’s Musami High School in Mashonaland East Province have become the latest beneficiaries of the Government’s Rural Electrification Programme after the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) installed 50-cubic-metre biogas digesters at the two institutions.
The installations form part of a nationwide rollout of alternative and clean energy solutions aimed at improving service delivery in rural areas, particularly at schools and public institutions.
Goromonzi High School head, Mr Maxwell Takawira, said the biogas system had significantly reduced operational costs while easing pressure on conventional energy sources.
“The provision of biogas by REA has reduced the electricity bill of the school, and the use of firewood has significantly reduced,” Takawira said.
Learners and staff at the beneficiary schools said the project had improved learning conditions, particularly during periods of power outages.
“We are very grateful to the Government for the provision of biogas energy, as we are now able to have our meals on time even when there is load-shedding,” beneficiaries said.
“The biogas system has brought convenience to the kitchen, allowing meals to be prepared at any time of the day. We are also now using a clean source of energy and are able to study at night even when there is no electricity,” they added.
REA Mashonaland East provincial project coordinator Engineer Virginia Gonye said the initiative aligns with the Second Republic’s inclusive development agenda and the goal of electrifying all rural areas in the province by 2030.
“As REA, we are moving with the Second Republic’s mantra of leaving no one and no place behind. We have constructed these biogas digesters so that communities can enjoy a clean and sustainable source of energy,” Gonye said.
She said the rural electrification programme supports the Government’s rural industrialisation drive, which seeks to stimulate rural economies and improve livelihoods through access to modern energy solutions.
