The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
THE late Secretary for Zimbabwe Land Commission Mrs Danisile Sibanda-Hikwa who passed away in a car accident on Sunday at the age of 64 was cremated and laid to rest on Wednesday at the Glen Forest Cemetery in Harare.
She is survived by her husband, Dr Danis Hikwa and three soons Mduduzi, Mehluli and Mkhululi.
Zanu PF national spokesperson, Simon Khaya Moyo and Politburo member Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube also attended the burial.
In a statement, the Zimbabwe Land Commission acting chairperson, Commissioner Retired Major Abdul Gabriel Credit Nyathi said they were saddened by the sudden death of Mrs Hikwa who was involved in a car accident and had been a career civil servant who worked for Government for 38 years.
“The Zimbabwe Land Commission (ZLC) is greatly saddened by the sudden death of its Secretary, Mrs Danisile Sibanda-Hikwa from a fatal car accident. Mrs Hikwa died on Sunday, 28 March in a fatal accident in Selous along the Harare-Bulawayo road at around 7pm. She was with her spouse at the time of her death who has also sustained injuries,” said Commissioner Nyathi.
He added that the late Mrs Hikwa was the Secretary for the Zimbabwe Land Commission since August 2017 and was a servant leader who exuded a lot of composure, agility and was goal oriented.
Commissioner Nyathi also noted that under her guidance, the ZLC was able to embark on the Comprehensive National Agricultural Land Audit phase 1 and phase 2 and superintended the resolving of agricultural land disputes.
“Her demise comes at a time when the Commission was preparing to undertake the third phase of the agricultural land audit programme.”
Prior to her appointment as Secretary for ZLC in August 2017, Mrs Hikwa was the Principal Director in the Department of Research and Specialist Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development since 2010.
The late Mrs Hikwa had a long and illustrious career in agricultural science, beginning in 1983 when she entered Government service as a Research Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture.
She was one of the proud hard-working females to receive a Master of Science in Tropical and Sub-Tropical Crop Science from the People’s Friendship University in Moscow, Russia as early as 1982, with her thesis that focused on tobacco breeding.
Mrs Hikwa completed a post-MSc internship in 1983, concentrating on modificational and genotypical variability of quantitative traits in spring wheat, as well as their interactions and in 2005 she graduated with a Master in Business Administration from the National University of Science and Technology.
She also worked in the Unit of the Zimbabwe Programme on New Seed Initiative for Drought Tolerant Maize in Southern Africa from 2005 to 2010. This was a multi-institutional farmer support seed initiative funded by CIMMYT in the SADC region.
Mrs Hikwa was also a member of the University of Zimbabwe Faculty of Agriculture Curriculum Advisory Committee from 2000 to 2007, among others.
In 2004 to 2010 she was the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Policy System compilation committees’ Crop Development Working Group and the Chairperson of the National Crop Variety Release Panel.
During the years 2007-2008, she was the Chairperson of the National Agriculture, Lands, and Food Security Taskforce’s Marketing Subcommittee. This was a multi-stakeholder taskforce that tracked and monitored seed availability and seed marketing of key crops at the time.
She was the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Programme on New Seed Initiative for Maize and Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (NSIM/DTMA) National Coordination Unit (NCU) from 2005 to 2010.
The late Mrs Hikwa actively participated in the establishment of some regional programmes, including the SADC Multi-Country Agricultural Productivity Programme (SADC-MAPP) and the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development in Southern Africa, as a representative of Zimbabwe (CCARDESA).
She was a skilled researcher who wrote, co-authored and published numerous research-based articles in the agricultural field.
