Marondera
Marondera is a town in Zimbabwe.
The town was known as Marandellas until 1982, it is located about 72 km east of Harare in Mashonaland East Province.
Background:
Marondera was one of the earliest centres of white settlement in the former colony of Southern Rhodesia.
The town originated in 1890 as a rest house on the road from Salisbury (now Harare) to Umtali (now Mutare). It was first known as Marandella’s Kraal, corrupted from Marondera, chief of the ruling VaRozvi people. This was later contracted to Marandellas. Later destroyed in the Shona resistance of 1896, the town was moved 4 miles (6 km) north to the Salisbury-Beira railway line. Constituted a village in 1913, it became a town in 1943. During the South African (Boer) War it was used by the British as a staging point for military operations into the Transvaal, and in World War II it was a refuge for displaced Poles.
The indigenous people of Marondera descend mainly from the Shona royal families of Svosve, and the nearby royal households of Chikwaka , Nyashanu and Mashonganyika. They are traditionally farmers.
Demographics:
Marondera is a multi-racial and multi-cultural town, with a variety of ethnic groups. Within the African population is a proportion of people of Malawian origin whose parents migrated and took employment on the white owned tobacco farms.
Education:
It is an educational centre with numerous elite private and government schools in the area. Marondera houses some of the most popular high schools and junior schools in Zimbabwean history such as:
- Bernard Mizeki College
- Peterhouse Boys’ School
- Peterhouse Girls’ School
- Watershed College
- Rakodzi High School
- Marondera High School
- Wise Owl High School
- Ruzawi Primary School
- Godfrey Huggins Primary School
- Diggleford Primary School
- Lendy Park School
- Springvale House
- Wise Owl Primary School
- It also houses an agricultural and commercial college aptly named Kushinga Phikelela and a government research station called Grasslands Research Station.
Economy:
Marondera was and to a degree is one of Zimbabwe’s centres of large forestry and commercial farming districts of timber, tobacco, corn (maize), beef, and dairy products
Religion:
The main faiths in Marondera are secular traditional Christians, evangelicals and mapostori (a sect of old testament bible followers who live like ancient prophets and may dress in white robes). Islam is practised by a small number of people in Marondera Asians and those people of Malawian descent.
