The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema – Extra Reporter
LOCATED roughly 800m off Kambuzuma road lies Kambuzuma High 2 School, a learning institution lost in time but still a model for the country’s education system.
Covering almost 15ha, the school houses approximately 960 students and 42 members of staff.
The school’s claim to fame is not that it is near one of the fastest-growing weddings and functions venue, Westwood Gardens, and Njanike Bar.
Because once upon a time, this school, or the land on which it is sited, once played host to Kutama College.
As the countdown to Kutama College’s centenary celebrations continues, with festivities pencilled in for March 21, we caught up with two Kutama alumini who know this little-known history.
Today Dr Innocent Tizora and Mr Cletus Nyachowe are eminent members of society: the Principal Director of State Residences and an engineer, respectively.
But before they got to where they are today, they were two rural boys who sought to further their education at Kutama College.
“Back then one used to look for their own places for school and being residents of Zvimba it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Kutama College was the place to be,” says Eng Nyachowe.
“Unlike the big guys you see today, we were very small boys and I remember we called ourselves the real Under-14s as we were very short and small bodied unlike most of the guys who would get places merely through sporting prowess and be forced to repeat two or three times.”
It’s been about 36 years now since Kutama was located in Kambuzuma, with the general agreement being that it had to temporarily move because of the liberation war.
For about eight months towards Independence and soon after, Kutama was based in Kambuzuma.
However, another claim is that the school had to relocate after an incident in which a young teacher was attacked and blinded by armed men.
“The school was closed at Kutama, I think in May 1979, and the pretext was that it was because of water problems but those in the know say it was because of the war. It was really creeping in and then it was decided that for the safety of the students, and those who were also writing exams at St Paul’s, the school had to close and relocate to the capital,” says Dr Tizora.
“What you need to understand is that regardless of who you were or what age you were, you took part in the war in one form or another. For us, we mostly gathered intelligence and the freedom fighters would visit our village at night and get information from us.
“We would report what we saw, heard or knew… It was at that time that war started reaching us, at Zvimba, and the school authorities decided to close the school and relocate us on the pretext of water problems. I actually remember that it was one of our teachers, a Brother Leo I think, who went and closed the water pipelines,” adds Eng Nyachowe.
What followed was a difficult period in the school’s history as both staff and students went through different and life-changing moves.
“The most significant effect the relocation had on our school is that we lost a lot of good people, both staff and students, not to death but some of our classmates transferred, some teachers moved on and most importantly the city changed a lot of people,” recalls Dr Tizora.
Eng Nyachowe weighs in: “We were rural boys who were just thrust into the big city with no prior warning or time to adapt. Most of the problems I had, everyone had. First there was the issue of accommodation as while at school everything had been catered for, now you had to fend for yourself.
“I actually lost about a month of school as I couldn’t find a place to stay and only got lucky when my uncle found a job as a hotel manager and we then moved into the Avenues.
“While here, you had to keep your wits about as there were so many temptations in the city, one which rural boys were not yet used to and then there were the transport problems.
“Depending on where you lived, you had to be always alert as the Salisbury United buses were very punctual and adhered to a very strict timetable.”
The housing and transport issues were but a tip of the iceberg, for these students now had to contend with hot-seating, rudimentary learning structures and contending with the temptations of city life.
“We lost a lot of classmates and teachers when we moved into the city and also lost more when we were in the city and when we relocated back to Zvimba.
“City life was more attractive what with the beautiful buildings, women and lifestyle and some of our classmates and teachers were taken by it all,” says Eng Nyachowe. “One of our biggest losses occurred in the teaching department as people like Brother Zigobo, Mukubvu, Mushonga and even our then headmaster, Cuthbert Musiiwa, all didn’t make it back with us.”
Fortunately, this trying time lasted only about eight months and soon enough the boys were back in Zvimba.
