Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]
THE Midlands State University (MSU)’s Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Law School in Kwekwe is expected to be open for business in August this year with construction on site progressing well.
With all necessary materials on site and over 300 workers engaged, MSU is confident of meeting the deadline and completing the project successfully.
Engineers from Masvingo Polytechnic College are also on site to work on roofing the sections that have reached roofing level.
The MSU Law School will also house other faculties including agriculture and architecture and is expected to recruit more than 1 000 students upon completion.
The law school, a brainchild of President Mnangagwa’s visionary leadership, is poised to become a beacon of academic excellence, attracting brilliant legal minds from across the nation and beyond.
The project will not only bolster Zimbabwe’s legal landscape but also serve as a shining tribute to the President’s unwavering dedication to education and national development.
The state-of-the-art law school, is expected to be one of the finest schools in Africa. Pro Vice Chancellor for Infrastructure and Campus Development at MSU Dr Gift Manyatera, said they were grateful to Kwekwe City Council for donating the piece of land for the sole purpose of the construction of the law school.
Besides the faculty of law, he said the campus will also house faculties of agriculture and natural resources as well as that of the built environment.
The self-contained double- storey campus will have lecture rooms, moot courts, library, hostels, kitchen, hospital and staff quarters, among other key infrastructure.
“It is being constructed on a 220ha farm we got from Kwekwe City Council so that we set up the campus, which is a faculty of law,” said Dr Manyatera.
Construction works commenced in 2023 and the structure boasts of state-of-the-art facilities.
“It will be one of the leading law schools in Africa. Remember, the MSU Law School has been number one in Africa. The school is also being constructed in recognition of the contribution of President Mnangagwa in the development of the legal system in the country,” he said.
Dr Manyatera said the modern infrastructure will have everything one could expect in a law school. MSU already has compasses in Gweru, Zvishavane and Harare with the faculty of law set for Kwekwe.
“We expect to move staff and students by August. This was a forest but it’s being developed. Structures have emerged from a former forest and we are at 65 percent completion of the main building, which has four expansions or sections,” he said.
“Expansion one is ready for roofing. Actually, we have Masvingo Polytechnic engineers working on roofing the first expansion. Then Treasury has also been releasing funds and we are happy with the trajectory that is being taken,” he said.
Dr Manyatera said there were 300 workers on site who are working tirelessly to make sure the project meets the deadline for opening.
“We want to move the Masters’ Programme here. We will also offer short courses in the next two to three years,” he said.
Kwekwe City Council mayor Councilor Albert Zinhanga, said when the law school becomes operational, the local authority is going to benefit in terms of increased revenue from rates, water and sewer charges. He said the campus will also attract other businesses, much to the benefit of the local authority.
“As Kwekwe, we are very happy that this development will boost our GDP,” said Clr Zinhanga.
The university has adopted a multi-campus philosophy that has seen it being in Gweru, Zvishavane, Harare and Bulawayo hence operationalising education the Government’s 5.0 model.
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