ZOU Manicaland mourns Prof Kurasha
W . ZIMBABWE Open University Manicaland Regional Director, Mr Kenneth Saruchera, has described the late university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Primrose Kurasha, as an exceptional and exemplary leader whose death left a huge void that will be difficult to fill.
Prof Kurasha who died last Friday was laid to rest at Glen Forest Memorial Park in Harare on Monday. She was the first woman to become Vice- Chancellor of a university in Zimbabwe.
“Her death was a huge loss. She propelled ZOU into a formidable and internationally-recognised university. She was an inspiration to all of us and we are in huge pain. She was a woman whose intellectual prowess was an inspiration to everyone. ZOU has grown in leaps and bounds because of her dedication and commitment to development. She transformed regional centres into regional campuses.
“We are in the process of opening district centres and we are glad to announce that the one in Makoni is now functional, while the Chipinge and Nyanga ones will soon be in full swing as we intend to serve the community. It is imperative to say the university is now training people up to doctorate level,” said Mr Saruchera.
President Mugabe recently paid tribute to late Prof Kurasha, describing her as an exceptional intellectual who pioneered distance education.
He said Prof Kurasha’s death was a loss to Zimbabwe’s developmental initiatives such as the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation, which required the input of intellectuals to succeed.