The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona, is the best performing Minister in President Mnangagwa's Cabinet for 2024, having been rewarded for his sterling achievements in refurbishing the country's critical infrastructure including the road network and superintending over a remarkable turnaround of parastatals under his purview.
President Mnangagwa yesterday recognised the outstanding achievements of Zimbabwe's top-performing Government officials, awarding Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, and heads of other Government departments for their exceptional service at a ceremony at State House in Harare.
The continuous performance evaluation reinforces the Second Republic's commitment to fostering a culture of excellence, work ethic, and servant leadership, aligning with the nation's Vision 2030 goal.
President Mnangagwa introduced the accountability framework in 2021.
Among other notable winners at the awards presentation was the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka, who was the first runner-up, while former Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, who is now the Energy and Power Development Minister, July Moyo, was the second runner-up.
Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira was the Overall Best Performing Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution while Matabeleland South Minister Evelyn Ndlovu was runner-up.
Among Permanent Secretaries, the Best performing was Engineer Joy Makumbe, Secretary for Transport and Infrastructural Development, with Ministry of Lands, Agriculture , Water, Fisheries and Rural Development's Professor Obert Jiri scooping first runner up and Ministry of Women's Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development's Mavis Sibanda taking second runner-up.
At provincial level, Permanent Secretary for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa emerged as the best performer while Permanent Secretary for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Dr Edgar Seenza, claimed second place.
Among Chief Executive Officers for State Owned Enterprises category, Mr Tinotenda Mhiko from the Agriculture and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) took first place, with ZimTrade's Mr Allan Majuru taking second place.
National Building Society (NBS)'s Mr Shingai Mutumbwa was the best performing among chairpersons for State Owned Enterprises while Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA)'s Mr Irvin Craig was the first runner-up.
Among Executive Secretaries of Independent Commissions, the best performer was Zimbabwe Land Commission's Mr Piwai Mawire while Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC)'s Virginia Muwanigwa took second place.
In the Town Clerks for Urban Local Authorities category Dr Lucia Mnkandla of Kwekwe City Council took first place.
In the Revenue Collecting Authorities category (Board Chairs), ZINARA's Dr George Manyaya was the Best Performing, while ZIMRA's Mr Anthony Mandiwanza was the runner-up.
In an interview, the Best Performing Minister, Advocate Mhona, said he was elated by the award while pledging to continue delivering for the general citizenry in terms of transport and infrastructure development.
"We have been trying to balance what the electorate is expecting but I am so grateful. We need to continuously engage with the masses of Zimbabwe so that whatever they want in terms of infrastructure, we run and implement," he said.
The Best Performing Provincial Minister, Minister Chadzamira, dedicated his accolade to the people of Masvingo saying without them, he would not have achieved the feat.
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"I am very happy, this win is not only for myself but the people of Masvingo and other stakeholders because we were working together to achieve this win as we earmark the US$8 billion provincial economy," he said.
On his part, Dr Manyaya said the culture of accountability and transparency instilled by President Mnangagwa had seen ZINARA cultivating results hence his award as Best Performing Board Chair.
"He (President Mnangagwa) has been clear about this even the NDS1 says that we must operate accountably and transparently, so this is what we have done as ZINARA. We have good systems, we have been accountable and we have been disbursing to road authorities.
"And for the first time ever since the inception of ZINARA, we got a clean audit and this is good and we will continue to do that," he said.
