Governance

The ZIMCHE Council

Council is the governing body that provides policy direction. Council members are appointed by the Minister responsible for higher education on a 3-year term on the basis of expertise and experience in higher education and research and ability to give guidance and advice on matters of higher education in the country in order to ensure that the functions of Council are discharged according to the highest professional standards.

The Council is made up of twenty-one men and women with vast experience in higher education. There are three Vice Chancellors in the Council who are meant to represent all universities. It should be noted that these Vice Chancellors are not in Council to defend the positions of their own universities and those of their colleagues but to serve the interests of ZIMCHE, all universities and all stakeholders.

The Council executes its functions through specialist Committees. The Secretariat carries out the day to day work of the council. Currently there are five committees which are :

1. Executive Committee
2. High Education Quality Assurance Committee
3. High Education Funding & Finance Committee
4. Academic & Students Affairs Committee
5. Human Resource Committee

Council Chairman

Re-appointed as the ZIMCHE Council Chairman from December 2020.

Professor Ngwabi Mulunge Bhebe is a distinguished scholar and former Vice-Chancellor of the Midlands State University. A celebrated historian par excellence, Professor Bhebe was appointed as the Chairperson of the ZIMCHE Board in 2018. Beyond serving as the Midlands State University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bhebe’s vision and leadership has been noticed and recognised as evidenced by the fact that he served in many Boards and capacities Locally, Regionally and Internationally.  Professor Bhebe is currently a Professor Emeritus at the Midlands State University

Vice-Chairperson of the Zimche Board

Joined the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020.

Professor Paul Mapfumo is the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe. Professor Mapfumo serves on several national and international Boards where he plays a critical role in strategic and policy advisory. He has served in the following roles, chairperson of the National Manpower Advisory Council, Board member Zimbabwe Staff College Control Board, Board member Zimbabwe National Army Schools Welfare Trust, lead expert Zimbabwe National Geospatial Agency, and delegate on the Zimbabwe Climate Change Negotiation Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2014-16, 2018).” Professor Mapfumo also serves as a member of the United Nations High Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security and convener for the UN international report on agroecology, among many other distinguished posts.

Council Members

Joined the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020

Professor David Jambgwa Simbi is the current Vice-Chancellor of Chinhoyi University of Technology, a position he has held since May 2007. Professor Simbi is a current member of the Scientific Industrial Research and Development Centre and the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council for Higher Education boards. 

Re-appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020.

Engineer dr Sanzan Diarra is the Chief Executive of the Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE). Additionally, Eng. dr Diarra has extensive work and experience in the following fields: Teaching, research and practice of civil engineering at Universities and Polytechnics in Zimbabwe, Practitioner of alternative dispute resolution methods (Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) – Certified International Mediator by the London School of Mediation, listed with the Association of Arbitrators in Southern Africa and Registered Practitioner with the International Dispute Resolution Board Foundation in the construction industry and Health and Environment Logistics management with the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Re-appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020.

Mr Adolf Macheka is a Specialist Surgeon and President of the Health Professions Authority of Zimbabwe. Additionally, Mr Macheka serves in the following portfolios:

• Chairman of Medical Dental Practitioners’ Council of Zimbabwe
• Chairman, Medical Practitioners of Zimbabwe
• Health Professional Authority
• Consultant, Mater Dei Hospital, Bulawayo
• Government Orthopaedic Consultant Surgeons, Bulawayo Central Hospital, Harare

Senior Registrar Orthopaedics, Bulawayo Central Hospital

Appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020.

Margaret Mukurazhizha has over ten years of Audit and Risk management experience in the Private Sector and Government.  She is currently the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management at the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. Margaret is a member of the Institute of Risk Management UK and the Institute of Internal Auditors. She is currently the Institute of Risk Management UK Zimbabwe Regional Group Chairperson and is a Certified PECB ISO 31000 Risk Manager.

Appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020.

Professor Norman Maphosa is an educationist who holds several qualifications in education.  He has extensive work experience in education and is a former Vice-Chancellor of  Solusi University. He is also the former Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service. He also served as the Director-General of the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management (ZIPAM). His board and council experience includes being a Board Member of the University of Botswana Tertiary Education

Re-appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020

Engineer Martin Manhuwa is the Chairman of the Capacity Building Committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO). He sits in Africa’s Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS) as alternative Chair of the Scientific and Technological Community which is hosted by UNECA.  He is a past chairman of the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe (ECZ) and a past president fellow of the Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE). He is also a past president of the Southern African Federation of Engineering Organisations (SAFEO). He is the immediate past president of the Federation of African Engineering Organisations (FAEO).

Appointed to ZIMCHE Council in December 2020

Engineer Dorothy Vimbayi Madziya is a registered professional Engineer with 14 years of progressive experience in Projects Management, Operations Management and development and maintenance of organisational Quality Management Systems. Eng. Madziya is currently an Assistant Project Manager for Zimbabwe Power Company and her notable previous appointments include Chief Operating Officer at TN Harlequin Luxaire, Projects Engineer at Sable Chemical Industries and Research Engineer at Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre.  She brings to the ZIMCHE her strategic and operational oversight to support the mandate of promoting, coordinating, and regulating Higher Educational Institutions in Zimbabwe.

Appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020

Mrs Josephine Ncube is a Legal Practitioner and Corporate Governance Consultant. She is the former Chamber Secretary and Acting Town Clerk of the City of Harare. She has served as Counsel to the Parliament of Zimbabwe and Chief Law Officer in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.  She currently sits on several Boards.  She is an active Gender Justice practitioner.

Appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020

Ruth Makombe is theManaging Director/CEO of the Success Microfinance Bank Limited. Ruth is a renowned banker who has served in executive capacities at Standard Chartered Bank, Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group and BancABC.

Re-appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2018

Readyforward Dube has worked as a Technical Assistant at the University of Zimbabwe and is currently the Senior Technical Assistant at the National University of Science and Technology. He represents University Staff on the Council.

Appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020.

Professor Idah Sithole-Niang is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Zimbabwe, which she joined in 1992.  She obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from Michigan State University, where she specialised in molecular virology working with chicken and turkey herpesviruses developing subunit vaccines. Following her doctoral studies, she pursued a post-doctoral fellowship working on the genetics of photosynthesis in cyanobacteria. She teaches molecular biology to science and medical students. She conducts research on the genetic improvement of cowpeas and bacterial metagenomics. She maintains a very keen interest on Biotechnology and Biosafety issues and has written authoritative articles on both subjects.

Appointed to the ZIMCHE Council in December 2020.

Mrs Francesca Bahle Nxedlana-Mutuma is the Chief Executive Officer, Khusela Business Intelligence Technologies. She leads an award-winning technology organisation that is a Systems integrator as well as a Value-Added Reseller for global brands.  She has over 30 years of combined global multi-sector experience spanning the USA and Africa.  She is a critical thinker, strategist, and innovator with strong Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Information Technology and Healthcare Delivery Systems skills.