Remembering a pioneering technocrat
WHEN Zimbabwe attained Independence in 1980, there was a mass exodus of white public sector workers.
Most of them found the idea of black majority rule repulsive.
Driven by racist instinct, they refused to be part of a multiracial country and made the great trek to South Africa, United Kingdom or Australia.
For the incoming administration, which was largely made up of cadres coming from the war, the need to establish a representative and functional bureaucracy was imperative.
They required talent and experience that could be relied upon.
In the area of communication, people with such qualities were scarce.
Until 1976, there was not a single institution training black journalists in Rhodesia. Those who wanted to acquire skills in mass communication had to leave the country.
Among those who left to pursue these critical skills was Mrs Anne Anastasia Knuth (nee Chakanetsa), who left the country for Kenya on a Danish scholarship to study journalism.
Zimbabwe only got a public journalism school in 1980 when the Division of Mass Communication was established at Harare Polytechnic.
As a result, there were apparent technical inadequacies in the area of mass communication within the Government in post-Independent Zimbabwe.
This prompted Mrs Knuth to return home in 1983, leaving a lucrative job she had held for ten years in Denmark with the East Asiatic Company.
Mrs Knuth, who succumbed to breast cancer last week, was to dedicate her whole life to civil service afterwards. Her brother Cuthbert Chakanetsa remembered how he convinced her to move back home.
“I had travelled to Denmark to see her and my brother-in-law when I explained to her how the new Zimbabwe was. She asked if there were opportunities for her back home and I told her they were in abundance,” he said.
She convinced her husband, Kristian Knuth, a Danish national, to leave his home country and permanently relocate to Zimbabwe with her. Upon arrival, they bought a farm in Harare close to Epworth, where they settled.
“Initially, her plans were to join ZBC since she had a degree in journalism from the University of Nairobi, but she got an opportunity to join the Ministry of Information and took it.”
Mrs Knuth joined the Ministry of Information as a public relations officer.
Born in 1947, she was in the prime of her career when she decided to serve Zimbabwe.
In those days, the ministry was stationed at Linquenda House in Harare.
She served with distinction and rose up the ladder until she was appointed the Government’s chief public relations officer in the early 1990s.
Describing her work on Wednesday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said Mrs Knuth left an enduring legacy.
“There are still a few people in the ministry who worked with Mrs Knuth. They remember the work she did and she served her country with distinction,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
During the Land Reform Programme, Minister Mutsvangwa’s family and the Knuth’s were allocated neighbouring farms. This cemented relations between the two families.
In 1997, she was transferred by way of promotion to the Office of the President and Cabinet, where she assumed the role of Director — State Occasions.
Her role was to organise and co-ordinate high-profile events, including annual commemorations, State visits by foreign Heads of State and Presidential banquets. She was operating under the Protocol department.
Minister Mutsvangwa said Mrs Knuth understood the sensitivity of her job.
“It is not a job that is just given to anyone; it is given to those with impeccable abilities. She worked in the Old Dispensation and worked in the New Dispensation. Before her retirement, she would train those who would take over. Whenever there were high level events, she would still be called back and she would come back with no qualms,” added Minister Mutsvangwa.
Despite running a busy schedule, Mrs Knuth loved her family.
Everyone who eulogised her spoke of how she loved God, her country and family.
“When she was working on State functions, there were days where we would miss her. But whenever she was home she would make sure that she gives us her full attention,” said Mrs Knuth’s eldest daughter, Maaianne.
“Her love for others was not limited to her family only; she extended her generosity to members of the community who needed assistance.
“She helped establish Kwari Orphanage in Mhondoro and would regularly donate foodstuffs, uniforms, school fees as well as books to the children,” added Maaianne.
Mrs Knuth also facilitated the establishment of a youth training centre at her farm in Epworth. The project was her daughter’s brainchild.
“When I returned to Zimbabwe I wanted to set up a learning centre which taught self-reliance skills like organic farming. I told her about the plan and, she gave me a portion of the land to use and would always give us material support at Kufunda Village since.”
Mrs Knuth retired from public service in 2018 and was now focusing on farming full-time at her Selous farm.
She had interests in horticulture and soyabean. However, breast cancer slowed her down towards the end.
She left behind two daughters — Maaianne and Alice — and three grandchildren.