ZANU-PF Midlands provincial executive has welcomed the appointment of new Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Frederick Shava, who comes from the region, and said it was upbeat that he will also help grow the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the province in line with the National Development Strategy (NDS1).
Shava, who was Zimbabwe’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, was appointed this week, and replaced Sibusiso Moyo who succumbed to COVID-19 last month.
ZANU-PF Midlands provincial chairman Daniel Mackenzie Ncube said the appointment of Shava was “a big honour for the Midlands province and the whole country.”
He described Shava as a “diplomat par-excellency, a cool gentleman of high intellect”.
“He will bring his international exposure to this new office and will vigorously pursue the engagement and re-engagement policy of the new dispensation. We can only succeed with a man of his calibre at the helm,” said Ncube.
He added that the coming in of Shava will help the Midlands province in terms of provincial affairs and devolution issues.
“We would want to grow the GDP of the province in line with the national strategy and the input of Cde. Shava will guide us to achieve our goals. We welcome him with open hands and we thank the President for this appointment.”
He will assume his post once his nomination as a senator for Midlands province has been gazetted.
Shava was the Minister of Labour, Manpower Planning and Development from 1981 to 1986 before becoming Minister of State for Political Affairs in 1987.
He also served as ZANU-PF’s Director of Administration before he was appointed ambassador to China where he served from 2007 to 2014.
He was then appointed Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the UN in New York.
Shava holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a Master of Philosophy degree in Parasitology from Royal Holloway College; a Master of Science in Nematology from Imperial College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Zimbabwe.
