The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
THE US$10 000 that Mutare City Council allotted to the Junior Council for a capital project in its 2024 budget will go towards the setting up of a children’s park located adjacent to the main park.
The setting up of the Children’s Park, which is set to run concurrently with the local authority’s sprucing up of the once picturesque main park and Aloe Garden, has given an opportunity to young minds of school-going age to give input to their desired park design through a colouring and painting competition.
A massive 560 entries were received from a total of 32 schools under Mutare City Council jurisdiction.
Speaking during the prizes presentation at the Civic Centre last Friday, Mutare City Council assistant director for housing and community services, Mr Nowel Mushangwe, who is also the junior council patron, said: “Council budgeted US$10 000 in the 2024 budget to fund one capital project for the junior council. The plan is to use that budget towards development of a children’s national park. We thought it prudent to involve the children in the setting up of the children’s park, hence this competition.
“We are pleased with the response that we got from schools around Mutare. As evidence to the excitement and interest that this competition has generated, we received inquiries from schools as far as Mhondoro, but naturally we could not accommodate them as this is meant for schools in Mutare.
“The idea at the end of the day is to incorporate all the ideas that we got from the entries in coming up with the final design of the children’s park so this is their project, hence their involvement.”
The painting and colouring competition started last year when it was done in partnership with Gender Links, but the art contest, which is now an annual event, accommodates learners in Mutare from Early Childhood Department (ECD) up to Advanced Level.
For the 2024 edition, in the ECD category, Ridgeville Junior’s Tamika Madiwa Ziso emerged the winner, while Mutare Junior School’s Bailey Sithole scooped a silver medal.
Sithole’s schoolmate, Blessing Mudzamiri came third.
In the Grade Three to Grade Five category, Shawn Mapa of Mutare Junior School was the gold medal winner, while Matipaishe Mutyaviri from the same school settled for the second position.
Mutanda Primary School’s Tawanda Mupfonda came third.
Tanaka Chanda of Mutare Junior School was the gold medal winner in the Grade Six and Seven category, where Simbarashe Makota from Dangamvura Primary School came second.
Mutare Junior’s Esther Mutepfa grabbed the bronze medal.
In the secondary schools’ Form One and Two category, it was an all Mutare Boys’ High School affair, with Ian Mabopani, Tinotenda Muzvongi and Kondiwerani Mangwere getting first, second and third prizes, respectively.
In the Form Three and Four category, Promise Munetsi, Spencer Chigare and Elvin Mwashita — all from Mutare Boys’ High School won gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Mutare Boys’ High once again dominated the Advanced Level category as Richmond Murandu, Adek Muradzikwa and Tanyaradzwa Mangobe were the winners in that order.
