The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Reporter
“Dr Ndubiwa’s work in local governance as Town Clerk of Bulawayo was visionary and sacrificial. Sacrificial-because many hours and years were invested in building the city of Bulawayo. It took consistent, persistent and fervent commitment to the people of Bulawayo for him to achieve what he did. Some even called him a workaholic, he was not afraid of hard work.
For every dream to be fulfilled there has to be individual commitment and dedication to build and when each of us start to see the city of Bulawayo as a personal responsibility and play our respective roles honorably, we will be able to build the Bulawayo we want,” said Clr Mguni.
Former Bulawayo Town Clerk, Mr Moffat Ndlovu said Dr Ndubiwa was so dedicated to service delivery such that he put the city ahead of any personal gains. He called on the city to consider renaming one of their infrastructure in honour of Dr Ndubiwa as he had a huge role in the construction of most major amenities in the city.
“To Dr Ndubiwa service delivery came first before personal benefit. He had a Peugeot 504 that he drove which he used until almost his time of retirement when his counterparts elsewhere were driving the latest cars on the market.
Dr Ndubiwa was fortunate that he worked with councillors who joined council as part of community service. Their guiding principle was service delivery and not for personal gain,” said Mr Ndlovu.
He said one of the most revered attributes of Dr Ndubiwa was that in all the years in council he had no corruption allegations leveled against him nor did he appear before any disciplinary hearing. Speaking on behalf of the city’s Aldermen Forum, Alderman Dennis Ndlovu said it was high time the current crop of administrators and councillors take a leaf out of Dr Ndubiwa’s attributes and know the importance of service delivery.
Dr Ndubiwa was laid to rest at the ceremonial Lady Stanley Cemetery in the city. He is survived by his wife Lydia, four children, eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Born in 1934 in Inyathi, Bubi district in Matabeleland North, Dr Ndubiwa did his primary education in Lower Gweru and moved to Mzilikazi High School in Bulawayo for his secondary education between 1945-1952.
Between 1953-1957, he attended school at Tegwani Training Institute in Plumtree. He proceeded to do a BA degree in administration at the then University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland which was based in Maseru, graduating in 1967. In 1972, Dr Ndubiwa attained a Master of Arts in Local Government and Administration from the University of Birmingham (UK). He also held a PhD in Social Sciences.
Before joining Bulawayo City Council, Dr Ndubiwa worked as an assistant teacher under the African Education Department between January 1958 and December 1958. From 1959-1961, he worked for the Barclays Bank and later joined the Civil Service between 1961-1962. Dr Ndubiwa joined the Bulawayo City Council in 1963 as an administrative assistant (finance) in the City’s Housing and Amenities department.
The body of Dr Ndubiwa lies in state during his funeral service at the Amphitheatre in Bulawayo yesterday. In attendance and in the front row is his wife Lydia (fifth from left) and family members
He left council in 1964 and returned to the Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland University to study for a Bachelor of Arts in Administration Degree which he completed in 1967. During his vacations he worked as a temporary administrative assistant before re-joining the council on January 22, 1968 as an administrative assistant in the council’s Housing and Amenities department.
Between 1975 and 1978, Dr Ndubiwa became the senior administrative officer in the Department of Housing and Community Services. He rose through the ranks to Deputy Town Clerk in 1979 and subsequently took over as the city’s first black Town Clerk in September 1984, taking over from Mr Ian Edmeades. He was the first black person to qualify for a diploma in the Institute of Town Clerks of Southern Africa. Dr Ndubiwa retired on August 31, 1999.
