NEWSPAPERS are not there just for reporting news and, in our case as a tabloid, reporting about real life and real drama.
We are not there just to report about the sex scandals even though we know that they are the kind of stories which the majority of our readers want to see in our paper.
We are not there just to report about the corrupt leaders, especially those who were elected to ensure that our urban councils provide our cities with real leadership but decided to use this as an opportunity to enrich themselves.
Neither are we here just to report about errant fathers who abandon their families and end up not even contributing basis things, like school fees resulting in them being dragged to the Civil Courts by their spouses.
We are also here to play a part in building our communities and help in the development of our country.
That is the reason why you will find that we will always root behind our national sports teams, even when we know that they are likely to fall short, for one reason or another, in their quest for success.
We are a Zimbabwean newspaper and everything that makes Zimbabweans proud is something that we will always support.
And, that is why, now and again, you will find that we will play a leading role, in campaigning for a certain cause, as long as we feel that what we are fighting for will benefit our people.
That is why we launched the “HOW MANY MORE” campaign, earlier this year, when we felt that there was need for action to be taken to tame the beast called the Mabvuku turn-off.
The thrust of our campaign was to tame the Mabvuku turn-off death zone where a number of our compatriots have perished over the years.
Our campaign was also meant to put pressure on the authorities, especially the City of Harare, to act and find ways of taming the beast.
Yesterday, we reported in this newspaper that businessman, Scott Sakupwanya, who was born in Mabvuku and grew up in the suburb, has delivered on his promise to install traffic lights at the dangerous turn-off.
It’s something he promised, just two days into the campaign, and now he has delivered on that.
He told us that, as someone who grew up in the area, the death zone has been a concern for him for some time now.
“Lives have been lost, some were left with permanent injuries at the Mabvuku turn-off and this is devastating,” he said.
“I have been losing sleep because of that turn-off, and trust me, I am going to install traffic lights there very soon.
“We had mayors who used the same road and witnessed accidents, but did nothing, and they didn’t even engage the community to address the issue.”
We are humbled, as a newspaper, to see that we played a big part in ensuring that a huge effort has been made to ensure we tame this beast.