Online Reporter
Debra Matabvu-Herald Reporter
GRADUATES being ca spped at tertiary institutions across the country must put their acquired skills to use, industrialise and modernise the country, and contribute to its socio-economic growth, President Mnangagwa has said.
Writing on his microblogging site, X, after presiding over the 17th graduation ceremony of 734 graduates at Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) yesterday, the President called on graduates of the class of 2026 to contribute to and participate in the development of the country.
“Today, I had the distinct honour of presiding over the 17th Graduation Ceremony of the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) at the Belvedere Campus,” President Mnangagwa said.
“We capped 734 exceptional graduates—comprising 402 young men and 332 young women—who are fully equipped to drive our nation’s modernisation and industrialisation agenda.”
The President commended HIT for continuing to anchor its academic programmes and innovations on the Heritage-Based Education 5.0 philosophy and producing graduates who were contributing meaningfully to the country’s development agenda.
He added: “As a premier institution of technology, HIT continues to be a cornerstone of our Heritage-Based Education 5.0 design, producing innovators capable of developing tangible solutions for Zimbabwe’s socio-economic growth.
The President poses for a photograph with Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Martin Rushwaya (second right), Harare Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Senator Charles Tavengwa (second from left), Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) Vice Chancellor Professor Engineer Quinton Chamunorwa Kanhukamwe (third from left), Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava (fourth from right), Deputy Minister Simelisizwe Sibanda (third from right), permanent Secretary Prof Fanuel Tagwira (right), VP Constantino Chiwenga’s wife and lecturer Dr Miniyothabo Baloyi-Chiwenga and Dean of Faculties at the graduation ceremony yesterday.
“To the Class of 2026: Go forth and build, industrialise, and innovate! Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo.”
The President conferred master’s and undergraduate degrees in various disciplines, including Engineering and Technology, Information Science and Technology, Business and Management Sciences, Industrial Sciences and Technology and Allied Health Sciences.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Engineer Quinton Kanhukamwe, said the mandate was closely aligned with the Government’s Heritage-Based Education 5.0 philosophy, which emphasised innovation, industrialisation and the practical application of knowledge to address national challenges.
He applauded the policy and said it sought to transform higher and tertiary education institutions into centres of innovation and industrial development by encouraging students and academics to move beyond theoretical learning towards the development and commercialisation of products and solutions.
“Harare Institute of Technology exists because of a national mandate: to develop, incubate, transfer and commercialise technology for Zimbabwe’s industrialisation,” Prof Kanhukamwe said.
President Mnangagwa poses for a photograph with the Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Chancellor’s Award winners and Overall Best Male and Female Students, Sheunopa Shaun Mango (left) and Matida Pelemba at the 17th Harare Institute of Technology graduation ceremony in Harare yesterday.- Pictures: Edward Zvemisha.
“That mandate is the anchor of everything I have described so far, and it stands on three pillars: our destiny, to be the stimulant of scholarship in innovation; our cause, to cultivate commitment towards technopreneurial leadership; and our calling, to commercialise technology through professionalism rooted in integrity.
“It is the same mandate that you, Your Excellency and Chancellor, have championed through Heritage-Based Education 5.0, a doctrine rooted in your own words, delivered in your inaugural address to the nation and recorded in the official Hansard of the Parliament of Zimbabwe.”
Prof Kanhukamwe also highlighted the various collaborations done by the institute over the past year, which include partnering with the University of Tokyo, while Seoul Cyber University has signed an academic agreement with HIT.
Other partnerships include the Korea-Zimbabwe Knowledge Sharing Programme. The college has also entered partnerships with Jadavpur University in India, Bialystok University of Technology in Poland, the University of Arizona in the US and St Petersburg in Russia.
Professor Kanhukamwe also highlighted some of the various achievements of the institution over the past year, which include Ndarama Technologies, a digital-sovereignty venture, now running the Ministry of Mines’ Export Permit Management System and the Citizen Engagement and Scoring Platform, Matsimba Technologies, an e-ticketing system, the Public Service Commission’s pension platform and a solar panel factory in Belvedere.
He noted that other milestones included setting up various laboratories for research, which include the Catalysis and Chemical Process Engineering laboratory (CCPE), Electronics, Embedded Systems and Cyber-Physical Engineering laboratory (EEC), Artificial Intelligence, Data and Digital Engineering laboratory (AIDDE), Bio-Innovation and Health Technologies laboratory (BIHT), Agri-Food Technology and Bioeconomy laboratory (AFTB).
Graduates celebrate at the 17th Harare Institute of Technology graduation ceremony yesterday.
Prof Kanhukamwe said HIT would, going forward, focus on driving value addition and beneficiation of Zimbabwe’s critical minerals, ensuring the country moves beyond exporting raw minerals to producing higher-value products locally.
He said the National Lithium Study had enabled the institution to establish what critical minerals and rare earth elements Zimbabwe possesses and how they can be beneficiated.
“Our outlook is to carry that knowledge all the way up the value chain: from characterised ore, through battery-grade precursor chemistry in our AMMB laboratory, through mineral value addition in MVANC, to Lithium Iron Phosphate cells, to complete electric-vehicle battery packs, and ultimately to Zimbabwean-assembled electric vehicles and trams rolling out of the Hi-Tech Development Valley itself,” Prof Kanhukamwe said.
Professor Kanhukamwe said HIT will continue to drive high impact technology deployments that support vision 2030 and accelerate Zimbabwe’s economic transformation.
Among those receiving special recognition of the E.D Mnangagwa Chancellor’s Award of US$1 000 cash was Matida Pelemba, who graduated with a Bachelor of Technology Honours Degree in Computer Science.
The other recipient of the ED Mnangagwa Chancellor’s Award was Shawn Mango.
Kudzaishe Mugadza and Jane Maruma received the US$500 cash prizes.
The ceremony was attended by Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Dr Frederick Shava, Chief Secretary Dr Martin Rushwaya, Cabinet Ministers, vice chancellors from other universities, captains of industry and senior Government officials.
