Muhamba scoops Secretary of the Year award

Council employee and current personal assistant to the Harare Mayor, Mrs Diana Chideya.
“I never expected to win such an award. I would like to thank my bosses for their confidence in me, and my colleagues as well for their support,” a delighted Ms Muhamba said on receiving the award.
The first runner-up was Ms Anne Mambo from the Local Authorities Pensions Fund, while the second runner-up was Ms Girly Mangandaire from the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment.
The awards were given out on the occasion of this year’s celebrations of Secretaries Day, which are held each year in September.
The day is set aside to recognise the work of secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists and other administration support professionals. This year’s commemorations were running under the theme “Understanding the Significance of the Secretarial Profession: What Today’s Secretary Ought to Do”.
Addressing delegates at the event, Permanent Secretary for Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango said the role of secretaries in the present environment was vastly changing and urged secretaries to appreciate their expanding role within the organisation.
“Today’s secretaries should understand how to read into the fundamental layers that constitute an organisation’s culture so as to get a full appreciation of the organisation’s core values.
“This is particularly important insofar as the role of secretaries has over the years transformed from limited tasks such as copy writing to total office administration,” she said.
In view of the extended role of the secretarial function to include some managerial duties, it has become incumbent upon secretaries to adopt certain attributes, including goal-orientation, pragmatism, efficiency, meticulousness, loyalty and leadership.
To this extent, Dr Utete-Masango urged secretaries to take advantage of training opportunities that had been availed by the Government. “Opportunities for career advancement have been availed by Government through the maturity entry scheme where entry requirement in some degree programmes is not necessarily A-Level pass with 15 points but requisite experience, and perhaps some bridging course.
“For example, Chinhoyi University of Technology and the Women’s University in Africa offer advanced as well as globally competitive office technology programmes,” she said.
Dr Utete-Masango also called for gender equality within the secretarial profession, which she noted was dominated by females.