Story by Tafara Chikumira
The Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Law School is set to open in August this year amid indications that contractors will meet the set timelines.
Construction works for the law school, a branch of the Midlands State University (MSU), are ongoing with most of the structures at the facility now at roofing level.
Constructors say all the required materials are now on site and more than 300 workers have been engaged at the facility to ensure the project comes to fruition.
MSU’s Acting Vice Chancellor, Dr Gift Manyatera said, “We are excited to be working on this facility. The guys are quite enthusiastic and one thing I can assure you is that we will be done by this August. The Treasury has been very supportive and I am grateful for the speed at which we are operating. We are already geared to put the roofing at the state-of-the-art facility which will have a moot court and several other facilities that you can expect from a facility of this magnitude.”
The Kwekwe community is already enjoying some spin-offs that are being accrued from the construction of the facility.
“We are learning new skills at this facility. I am already fending for my family. I have been given life skills that will change my life forever. I have been taught welding skills that I never used to have and will certainly use some of these skills as I leave this place,” a Kwekwe resident said.
Another said, “I am very grateful for the opportunity granted to me to work at such a facility. The skills I am getting are quite amazing. I will certainly leave this facility a better person.”
The government is equally excited by the progress being made by the Second Republic in reshaping the educational landscape in the country.
The Minister of Information Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere said, “The first cycle recognises our human capital development, which feeds into our Vision 2030. The construction and resourcing of the Midlands State University School of Law in Kwekwe district is part of the devolution and decentralisation of human capital development in our country.”
“The Midlands province commends the unique and impactful guidance offered by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The law school is befittingly named after him in recognition of his professional and academic exploits as a legal practitioner which includes providing legal counsel in upholding the Party ZANU PF party’s constitution, during the crafting of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, and the reforms he introduced under his tenure as the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs among them the establishment of open prisons, decentralisation of courts to sub-national levels and advocating for the abolition of the death penalty, himself having survived the death penalty during the liberation struggle on a technicality,” said Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Honourable Owen Ncube.
The Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Law School is set to become the biggest such school in Africa.
