Pioneer newspaper owner dies

Munyaradzi Makoni
MRS MARGARET Marjorie Luwuliza- Kirunda, the founder of the now-defunct, Business Express, the only business community newspaper to be published in Gweru has died.

Mrs Kirunda died on Saturday in Kampala, Uganda after a short illness while visiting her home.

Born in 1950, Mrs Kirunda came to Zimbabwe in 1990 with her family.

Her late husband, Dr John Luwuliza-Kirunda, a prominent Ugandan politician and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gyneacology at Makerere University and a Consultant Gynaecologist worked as an obstetrician at the Gweru Provincial Hospital.

Trained as a teacher and journalist, Mrs Kirunda realised the need for promoting Gweru and the local business community and started a community newspaper when most newspaper owners were male.

She worked with her daughter Jessica and three trainee journalists at the launch of the paper in 1996. They persisted and won the award for the best Zimbabwean community newspaper in 2006.

Mrs Kirunda was a rare kind who believed in empowering the young generation. Every year she had between six and eight young Zimbabweans on internship at Business Express.

“At least 50 young journalists made it through her hands. Ten of these now run their own newspapers worldwide,” said Jessica.

Mrs Kirunda as a mother, granny and great grandmother was strong-willed, a disciplinarian, loving but tough, Jessica said.

“She had a beautiful smile. She was soft-spoken. She was very calm but also firm,” Jessica said.

*Munyaradzi Makoni is a freelance science journalist based in Cape Town, South Africa.