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Herald Reporter
President Mnangagwa has conferred a State-assisted Liberation War hero status to the late Permanent Secretary in charge of the District Development Fund (DDF) in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Cde James Kenneth Jonga.
Cde James Jonga died on Thursday last week after a short illness and will be buried today at Muchemwa Village in Chegutu.
He was 70.
In a statement yesterday, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda confirmed the developments.
“His Excellency, the President and First Secretary of ZANU PF, Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa has conferred a State-assisted Liberation War hero status to the late Cde James Jonga who died on 15 July 2021 and will be buried at Muchemwa Village, Chief Rwizi, Chegutu,” he said.
In his message of condolence to the Jonga family, President Mnangagwa described Cde Jonga as a competent, hardworking senior civil servant and a leader in rural development who will be remembered by many communities which benefited from his efforts and diligent leadership.
“The death of Cde James Jonga was a tragic development indeed. A competent and diligent senior civil servant, Cde Jonga was at the cutting edge of our rural infrastructure programme on which our rural transformation strategy revolved,” he said.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa also described Cde Jonga as a humble and hardworking developer who wanted to improve the livelihoods of people, especially in rural areas.
She said Cde Jonga’s leadership at the DDF had seen the improvement of roads, sinking of boreholes in different communities and offering tillage services in rural areas.
“Many schools and communities now have access to safe water,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
“Mr Jonga was working towards the attainment of Vision 2030. He has left a huge gap.”
Cde Jonga joined the DDF as an assistant director in 1987.
He became the deputy director in 1989 when the DDF merged with the Department of Rural Development (DERUDE).
He was appointed principal director, and subsequently the director-general of DDF in 1998.
In 2014, he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet in charge of DDF and Related Infrastructure Development, a post he held until his death.
Cde Jonga was instrumental in the establishment of developmental projects such as the water division, which he superintended under the Rural Roads Programme.
He spearheaded the purchasing of drilling equipment and the recapitalisation of the DDF’s plant and equipment unit.
Cde Jonga was the chairman of the Rural Wash Programme and deputy chairperson of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP 2) steering committee.
He was at the forefront of the Zunde raMambo programme and championed the “Lest we Forget Programme” for the late national heroes and heroines.
Cde Jonga is survived by his wife Miriam and five children.
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