Engineer Andrew Siwela-Mpala buried

Chronicle Correspondent

VETERAN engineer, businessman, and former senior civil servant, Engineer Andrew Siwela Mpala was laid to rest on Saturday at the Mpala Family homestead in Esiphezini, Umzingwane District in Matabeleland South province.

Scores of mourners gathered to bid farewell to the engineering icon, who died in Harare last week Tuesday after a long illness.

Among those who attended the burial ceremony was former Cabinet Minister and liberation struggle veteran, Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube who described the late Eng Siwela-Mpala as a good friend.

“I have lost a good friend, an accomplished engineering professional, and a brother,” he said.

“Andrew was dedicated to his work and played a significant role in restructuring the water resources department within the then Ministry of Energy and Water Development from 1981 – 1986.

“He also was one of the founding fathers of the now Zambezi River Authority, the authority that manages the Kariba Dam, and became its first Chief Executive Officer in 1988.”

Also present was former Cabinet Minister and newly appointed Matabeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Dr Evelyn Ndlovu.

Eng Siwela Mpala was among the pioneer indigenous engineers at independence and paved the way for a number of black engineers at that time who rose through the ranks and themselves contributed to the infrastructure development of the country.

The country’s engineering fraternity has lost a giant in the field of engineering and his works will forever be remembered, his peers have said.

Eng Mpala was born in Esiphezini near Bulawayo on 2 January 1941 and attended Mzilikazi Primary School and Goromonzi High School. He trained as a professional civil engineer at a Russian university where he attained a bachelor’s degree.

He later advanced his studies at the Imperial College in London where he graduated with a Master’s Honours Degree in Civil Engineering in 1972.

Eng Mpala then went to Zambia where he began his working career with the Ministry of Water Development in Lusaka.

In 1974 he got married to Lindiwe Grootboom and in 1980 when Zimbabwe got its independence, he joined the Ministry of Water Resources and

Development in Zimbabwe and rose through the ranks to become deputy permanent secretary.

He later left civil service to join the Zambezi River Authority as chief executive officer from 1988 up to 1991. At the beginning of 1992, he became one of the pioneering black engineering consultants to form his own private engineering enterprise — Hydro Utilities Consulting Engineers.

During his distinguished career, Eng Mpala served as a board member of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) and was also a commissioner for the City of Harare in the mid-1990s.

Eng Mpala also served on various other professional corporate boards and made a huge impact in the water sector in Zimbabwe and Zambia where he was instrumental in mentoring and training a lot of engineers.

Eng Siwela-Mpala is survived by six children and five grandchildren.