Mutasa District

Mutasa
—  District  —
Coordinates: 18°35′0″S 32°45′0″E
Country	Zimbabwe
Province	Manicaland
District	Mutasa
Government
• MP For Mutasa Central	Trevor Saruwaka
• MP For Mutasa North	David Anthony Chimhini
• MP For Mutasa South	Misheck Kagurabadza
Elevation	912 m (2,992 ft)
Population
• Total	167 462
Time zone	CET (UTC+2)

Mutasa District is one of seven districts in the Manicaland province of Zimbabwe. Mutasa district is located 30 km from Mutare and stretches up to the Honde Valley which is about 100 km northeast of Mutare along a tarred road which branches off the Nyanga road.

Population

Mutasa District has 27 wards and a total population of 167 462 with 39 847 households.

Location

Mutasa district is located 30 km from Mutare and stretches up to the Honde Valley which is about 100 km northeast of Mutare along a tarred road which branches off the Nyanga road.

Economy

Mutasa District economy has agro-based. Villagers practice semi-commercial agriculture. And the district has several plantations and estates which provide employment. Villages raise cattle, goats and chicken. And they grow maize, groundnuts, sugarcane etc and have plantations for fruit trees in the fields. Some of the villages are small holder growers of coffee, tea and banana plantations. Large scale commercial plantations produces timber, coffee and tea estates.

Infrastructure Development

Compared with other district in Manicaland Province, Mutasa District has better infrastructure.

Road network

The district is serviced by a network of surfaced and gravel roads. The main highways are the Mutare – Nyanga A15 highway and the Selbourne to Honde Valley road. During the rainy season some parts of the district are inaccessible by road due to the bad state of roads. The district council does not have the capacity to maintain gravel roads, hence the District Development Fund(DDF) is now maintaining most of the gravel roads. In Honde Valley some areas are only accessible only by four-wheel-drive enabled vehicles due to the terrain.

Communication Technology

Most of the district is covered by wireless or cell phone networks, although mountainous areas of the district have poor reception. Land telephone lines connect most of the business centres throughout the district. Villages and business centers with telephone services have access to the internet.

Dams and Water Infrastructure

Mutasa district is in the Highveld, receiving high rainfall, hence there are a number of small to large dams in the district, the major ones being Osborne Dam and Nyawamba Dam. Pungwe – Mutare pipeline also pass through the district and the district benefits from water points along the route. In Honde Valley, water supplied from by a number of small piped systems and motorised pumps serving small towns, growth points, commercial plantations, service centres and some villages, as well as direct abstractions from the rivers by riparian village communities not connected to developed installations.

Sanitation

Up to 90% of the population has Blair pit latrine and the rest have water-borne sewer system. Most of the Blair Pit latrines were constructed after independence in 1980.

Government and politics

Mutasa District is divided into three constituencies Mutasa Central, Mutasa North and Mutasa South and the PMs are Trevor Saruwaka, David Anthony Chimhini] and Misheck Kagurabadza respectively.

Education

Mutasa has a number of schools and tertiary institutions.

Primary Schools

• Sagambe Primary School
• Chavhanga Primary School
• Pachije St Stephen Primary
• Chikomba Primary School
• Chisuko Primary School
• Aberfoyle Primary School
• Estern Highlands Primary Schools
• Katiyo Primary School
• Nyamhingura Primary School
• Muterere Primary School
• Zindi Primary School
• St James Haparari Primary School
• Vumbunu Primary School
• Sherukuru Primary School
• Pimayi Primary School

Secondary Schools

• Sagambe Secondary School
• Chavhanga Secondary School
• Chisuko Secondary School
• Muterere Secondary School
• Zindi Secondary School
• St Columbus Secondary School
• Nyamhingura Secondary
• St Mathias Tsonzo Secondary School
• St James Zongoro Secondary School
• Mwoyoweshumba Secondary School
• Nyakatsapa High School
• Gatsi Secondary School
• Nyatsanza
• Sahumani
• Chitombo
• Pafiwa Mutasa

Tertiary Institutions

• Bonda Mission Hospital

Health care

Zimbabwe’s public health care is delivered at four levels which are meant to function as a referral chain. The first level is the primary level consisting of Rural Health Centres, Rural Hospitals and Urban Clinics (services do not require an attending Physician). The second level is the first referral level consisting of District Hospitals. The third level is the second referral level consisting of Provincial and General Hospitals. The fourth and final level is the third referral level to Central and Special Hospitals.

Most of the health care facilities in the district are owned and run by the government's Ministry of Health and Child Welfare although local communities are involved in the management of some clinics. The main referral hospitals are Hauna Hospital and Bonda Mission Hospital. There are several poly-clinics in the district that offer primary health care to people from the villages in the district. In recent years as the economy of Zimbabwe has declined, there has been a shortage of drugs and equipment at the hospitals although staffing levels by end of 2010 had improved. Communities also rely heavily on traditional medicines. The major diseases that affect the people in the district include Diarrhea, TB and Malaria.

HIV/AIDS

Like the rest of the country, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is seriously affecting the district. However there has been a decrease of reported HIV prevalence rate in the past decade.

Hospitals

• Hauna Hospital
• Bonda Mission Hospital

Entertainment and Recreation

Tourist Attractions

• Mahwemasimike
• Muratazi Falls
• Pungwe River white water rafting

Villages & Townships

• Hauna Growth point
• Watsomba Village
• DC Village

Prominent People from Mutasa

• Oppah Muchinguri
• Didymus Mutasa
• Patrick Chinamasa
• Trevor Saruwaka
• David Anthony Chimhini
• Misheck Kagurabadza

Notable Places

• Hauna
• Osborne Dam
• Zindi Village
• Pungwe River
• Honde Valley

References

• Mutasa District at GEOnet Names Server