…as university honors veteran educationist
MARTIN MAWAYA
GWERU-The establishment of the Midlands State University (MSU) in the Midlands Province was a major investment which added impetus to the education sector in Zimbabwe, former Vice-Chancellor Prof Ngwabi Bhebhe has said.
Speaking at a golf tournament organized by MSU to honour his academic achievements, Prof Bhebhe chronicled harrowing challenges he faced to set up the now top of notch university, which is arguably the biggest in the country by numbers.
The golf tournament was held at Lundi Park Golf Course in Gweru last Saturday.
He said despite bureaucratic bungling and struggles in the hands of some government officials who were against the project, he constructed and transformed the former Gweru Teachers College (GTC) into a world class learning institution with a $50 grant from the government.
“I started construction of MSU with a $50 which I was offered, I opened an account with Barclays Bank (now First Capital Bank) and there was an outcry, particularly from my ministry (Higher and Tertiary Education) that I should have opened the account with a local bank and the local bank was the CBZ. They really thought that I was going to be a total failure,” said Prof Bhebhe as he poured his heart out.
He said the university has brought in major investment in the province as well as promoting industrialization, infrastructure development and is one of the best research hub in Zimbabwe.
The former Vice-Chancellor added that the likes of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Richard Hove, July Moyo and the late Cephas Msipa supported him to steer up the institution to higher levels.
“You may not know that behind my activities, there were powerful people who made sure I was untouchable. They gave me confidence to do a lot of things,” he said.
MSU Vice-Chancellor Prof Victor Muzvidziwa said the university will “continue to celebrate the former Vice-Chancellor’s successes in the intellectual field”.
Bhebhe was retired in 2016 at a time when the university had an unparalleled enrollment of more than 20 000 students.
In 2021, he was the first MSU Vice Chancellor who was conferred with the order of the Star of Zimbabwe Silver by President Mnangagwa.
