The Sunday Mail
George Maponga in MASVINGO
THE Second Republic has honoured the late national heroine, Mrs Maud Muzenda, for the role she played during the liberation struggle by renaming the Roger Howman Training Centre in Masvingo city after her.
Mrs Muzenda, who died in 2017 and was interred at the National Heroes Acre, was the wife of the late national hero and iconic Vice President Simon Vengesayi Muzenda.
The training centre is well known for equipping women and youths with technical and entrepreneurial skills.
Speaking at the official ceremony to mark the renaming of the centre in Masvingo on Friday, Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Monica Mutsvangwa paid tribute to the national heroine for her fortitude and resilience in the face of harassment by the colonial government. “The decision to rename the training centre to Maud Muzenda Training Centre was granted by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde ED Mnangagwa, on the 19th of May 2023. The purpose of this renaming is to pay tribute to the late national heroine, Cde Maud Muzenda, a woman of vision, mother and a freedom fighter,” she said.
‘‘The renamed training centre will continue to honour that commitment through the provision of quality skills training services to the surrounding communities. The development of a skilled and diverse human capital base is a critical requirement necessary for the effective implementation of the country’s socio-economic development programmes.”
Access to training should be guaranteed to ensure that no person is left behind in the Second Republic’s endeavour to capacitate its people with key skills and competencies, Minister Mutsvangwa said.
‘‘Institutions like the newly named Maud Muzenda Training Centre will play a critical role in fulfilling the training aspirations of women and community members by providing them with the necessary skill platform from where their livelihood projects and micro-enterprises will take off. This will increase the productivity levels of community members and help them to contribute to national development and take away their energy and time from vices such as crime, drug and substance abuse and gender-based violence.’’
At the same event, Senator Tsitsi Muzenda, who is the daughter of the late heroes, thanked the Second Republic, under President Mnangagwa’s stewardship, for honouring her iconic mother.
“My mother was synonymous with hard work, fortitude and resilience,” she said.
The newly renamed Maud Muzenda Training Centre offers short courses such as clothing technology, food processing, detergent making, apiculture, poultry production, mushroom production, baking, catering, vegetable drying and other skills to the Masvingo community.
