THE country’s former top envoy to Japan, Kenya and Uganda, Ambassador Buzwani Donald Mothobi has died.
He was 80.
Ambassador Mothobi who was Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Japan and the Republic of Korea from 1994 to 1998 died on Wednesday after a long illness.
He was born on August 22 in 1939 in Nyamandlovu District.
Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) chief executive officer Mr Nyasha Chizu sent his condolence message yesterday, describing Ambassador Mothobi, who was also former PRAZ board deputy chairperson as an astute leader and a father figure at the board and in the procurement profession at large.
“His passing away has left a void in the profession and the procurement fraternity shall always remember his leadership and guidance,” he said.
Amb Mothobi was one of the longest serving members of the State Procurement Board and was selected to lead its transformation into the PRAZ.
He served as the Executive Chairman of the transitional State Procurement Board from December 2015 to December 2017.
He was pivotal in the development of the new Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (Cap 22:12).
Ambassador Mothobi resigned from PRAZ in 2018 due to illness.
Before his appointment as the deputy chairperson of PRAZ, he had chaired many boards including the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Zimre Property Investments and SFG Insurance among others.
He was a High Commissioner to Kenya and Uganda from 1998 to 2001. At one time, he was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements/Habitat.
Ambassador Mothobi was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Supplies from 1985 to 1987; Permanent Secretary for Labour, Manpower Planning and Social Welfare from 1984 to 1985; Permanent Secretary for Transport from 1982 to 1984.
He was Research and Planning director in the Ministry of Manpower Planning and Development in 1980 and a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, during University Of Rhodesia from 1976 to 1977.
The late diplomat is survived by a wife and three children.
Mourners are gathered at number 48 Folyjon Crescent, Glen Lorne in Harare.
State Media