Gutu is the third largest district in

Masvingo Province Masvingo is a province in southeastern Zimbabwe. It has a population of 1.485 million as of the 2012 census, ranking fifth out of Zimbabwe's ten provinces. Established as Victoria Province by the British South Africa Company, it was one of the ...

, southern

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 ...

, after Chiredzi and Mwenezi. It is the northernmost district in the province. The name "Gutu" is historically reported to have emerged from "Chinomukutu wemiseve" – meaning, "the one with a load of arrows". This is according to oral historical folklore of the "Gumbo" clan who are said to have taken over the area from the "Shiri" clan through killing them by poisoning the fruit trees in the "Gona" area. Mupandawana is the largest district service centre. It was designated as a "growth point" during the early years of independent

together with such places as

Gokwe The Gokwe Region consists of the land in the area around Gokwe centre that was formerly under the control of the hangweanguage people, a Shona-speaking group, which lay in the northern part of the Midlands province of northwestern Zimbabwe, and i ...

in the

Midlands Province Midlands is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of and a population of 1,614,941 (2012). It is home to various peoples. Located at a central point in the country, it contains speakers of Shona, Ndebele, Tswana, Sotho and Chewa, as well as of ...

and Juru in

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. Mpandawana gained town status in April 2014. It was home to the late Oliver Munyaradzi,

Simon Muzenda Simon Vengai Muzenda (28 October 1922 – 20 September 2003) was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2003 under President Robert Mugabe. Early life and ed ...

, former vice president of Zimbabwe as well as

Vitalis Zvinavashe Vitalis Musungwa Gava Zvinavashe (27 September 1943 – 10 March 2009) was a Zimbabwean general officer, politician and the first commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces "ZDF". Zvinavashe had modest academic credentials but was renowned among Zi ...

, a Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and politician. Dr Costa Maonei, former District Medical Officer, comes from the southern tip of the District. The late Air Vice Marshal

Josiah Tungamirai Air Chief Marshal Josiah Tungamirai (8 October 1948Gutu Mission Hospital Gutu is the third largest district in Masvingo Province, southern Zimbabwe, after Chiredzi and Mwenezi. It is the northernmost district in the province. The name "Gutu" is historically reported to have emerged from "Chinomukutu wemiseve" – meani ...

found in the district, is one of a number of centers for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

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 m ...

treatment in the province. The population is mostly the Karanga, a

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

sub-tribe. It is one of a few districts in the province where the standard of living is above average. Gutu Rural District council is in charge of the day-to-day running of the district.

Geography

Climatically, the area falls under Natural Region III. Natural Regions (NRs) in Zimbabwe's context are areas delineated on the basis of soil type, rainfall and other climatic factors. It is one of a few districts in the country that suffers from over-population. Its population density of 22.08 per square kilometer is among the highest in the country. Gutu district center had a population of 10-12000 in 1989. Like other districts in the country, medical facilities in the district suffer from shortage of manpower. Mpandawana Growth Point, a famous business center in Zimbabwe, is found in the district.Gutu RDC offered 1billio

accessed 18 February 2008)

Government and politics

General elections 2008

The district was divided into four parts by the electoral commission for the general elections of 2008. Candidates from both the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai, MDC and ZANU-PF and independents will compete for the four constituency seats available and winner will go one to represent the district in

's new

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

. Matuke Lovemore ( Zanu-PF), and Chirume Oliver (

MDC Tsvangirai MDC may refer to: Arts *Macau Design Centre, an art center in Macau *MDC (band) (Millions of Dead Cops), an American rock band *'' M.D.C. - Maschera di cera'', a 1997 Italian horror film * Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the protagonist of Miraculous: Ta ...

) will contest the Gutu central seat while in Gutu east, Chikwama Bertha ( Zanu-PF), Revai Tichaona (Independent), Makamure Ramson (

) will fight it out. In Gutu north, the candidates are Maramwidze Edmore (

), and the late Provincial hero

Frank Machinya Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

(Zanu-PF) while Mandevu Tarirai ( Zanu-PF), and Maguma Stanley (

) are vying for the Gutu west seat. The results came as follows: of the five seats, four seats were won by MDC Tsvangirai, and one went to Zanu PF.

Notable residents

Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo (23 December 1945 – 9 May 2013) was a Zimbabwean nationalist, part of the first group of Gonakudzingwa restriction camp political prisoners, Pioneer Insurance Executive, Business magnate, Academic, philanthropist, cons ...

, nationalist, part of the first group of Gonakudzingwa restriction camp political prisoners, insurance executive, indigenous businessman, commercial farmer, philanthropist. *

, nationalist, former Zimbabwean deputy prime minister and vice-president *

Divine Ndhlukula Dr Divine Ndhlukula is a Zimbabwean businesswoman, founder and Managing Director of DDNS Security Operations (Pvt) Ltd which is the holding company for SECURICO Security Services. Dr Ndhlukula is the past president of Zimbabwe National Chamber of ...

, businesswoman, farmer *

Naftali Rabson Mupata Tanyongana According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali (; ) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Bilhah (Jacob's sixth son). He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Naphtali. Some biblical commentators have suggested that the name ''Naphtali'' ma ...

, Educator *

Elisha Tavagadza Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...

,- EMV Engineer-currently based in Europe * Simbarashe Mazorodze, Information Technology Consultant based in Harare. * enemene Chomurwiti Chivasa Chitsa Intelligent Headman and Son of Chief Chomurwiti Gutu who resided in Chitsa

References

{{authority control Districts of Masvingo Province

Geography

Government and politics

General elections 2008

Notable residents

See also

References