Kotwa is a small town in

Mudzi District Mudzi District is a district of Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, in southern Africa. It is located in the far eastern part of Zimbabwe, and covers , all of which is communal land. As of the 2012 census, the district had a population of 133,252, ...

Mashonaland East Mashonaland East, informally Mash East, is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 32,230 km2 and a population of approximately 1.35 million (2012). Marondera is the capital of the province. Geography Districts Mashonaland East i ...

province,

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. It is the capital of the district, serving as its administrative and commercial centre.

Demographics

Kotwa lies in the heartland of the Toko-Tonga area, generally considered to be a

Shona people The Shona people () are part of the Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily living in Zimbabwe where they form the majority of the population, as well as Mozambique, South Africa, and a worldwide diaspora including global celebriti ...

. As such, most of its residents are of Toko-Tonga origin. However, since Mudzi is made up of the Toko-Tonga and the Toko (Budya) people, it also has a big population of the Toko people. Other Shona peoples are also found at Kotwa, mostly being migrant government employees.

Transport

Kotwa is on the

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

- Nyamapanda highway which links Zimbabwe and Malawi via Tete, Mozambique. It is 222 kilometres from Harare and is about 20 kilometres from Nyamapanda Border. It also has an aerodrome, called Kotwa Aerodrome which was mostly used by the

Zimbabwe Defence Forces The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) are composed of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ). As a landlocked country, Zimbabwe has no navy. The most senior commander of the ZDF is General Philip Valerio Sibanda. At the ...

to launch attacks against

RENAMO RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppose ...

dissidents during the

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Civil War.

Health

Kotwa has one hospital, Kotwa District Hospital, which is central government owned and serves the whole of Mudzi District and one clinic owned by the Mudzi Rural District Council (local government). Being a town that is in the lowveld (it is in the Zambezi escarpment), it is very hot during summer and suffers from malaria. Like other Zimbabwe towns, it has high prevalence of

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Economy

Most of Kotwa's economy is based on government services. It also serves as a market for agricultural products such as masau, vegetables, and mango fruits from the surrounding villages, mostly from the nearby Meza village. It also has a grain buying depot (under the government owned Grain Marketing Board) but these days there is not much to sale due to poor rains. In addition, Kotwa has a cotton buying depot run by Cottco.

Education

Kotwa has one high school, Kotwa High School (central government owned), and two primary schools, Kotwa Primary School and Nyamakuyo Primary School (central government owned and local government owned, respectively).

Politics

Kotwa lies in

Province and tends to vote towards

Zanu (Pf) The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant organisation that Rhodesian Bush War, fought against White people in Zimbabwe, white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). ZANU sp ...

. It is administered by Mudzi Rural District Council and forms part of Mudzi North constituency, currently represented by Milton Kachepa in the Parliament of Zimbabwe.

References

Populated places in Mashonaland East Province