MAUD CHIFAMBA – AFRICA’S YOUNGEST UNIVERSITY GRADUATE

MAUD CHIFAMBA 

WAS THE DEATH OF HER PARENTS BEHIND HER “MIRACULOUS” ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS?

By Tapfuma Machakaire   19/2/2023

Maud Chifamba surprised the nation when she was admitted for a degree programme in 2010 at the age of fourteen. She was swiftly captured in the Book of African Records (BAR) as the youngest university student on the continent. BAR is a platform for the celebration of historic achievements by African people.

The question arises as to how she managed that rare achievement and what was the driving force behind it?

Born   in Gokwe district in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe on 19 November 1997, Maud lost both her parents before she had even started her first grade in school.The father was a soldier and the mother was a house wife.

In 2003 when she was just over five years old, Maud was under the care of a step-brother on a small farm in the Hunters Road area near the city of Gweru. The step brother had obtained the piece of land curtesy of the government’s land reform programme.

There, Maud enrolled for grade one at Hurudza primary school. In 2005 when she was doing grade three she wrote and passed a grade four mid-year examination paper. She astonishment school authorities as she got all the answers correct.

But she was not done yet. Before the end of the year she sat for a grade five exam and scored the highest mark beating her seniors in the higher grade. She was fast-tracked to grade seven. Maud easily sailed through her grade seven work, passing the examination with four units.That could have been the end of the road for her since her step brother could not afford fees for her secondary education.

That for Maud was not an excuse to give up. She continued her studies at home and in a record two years she had completed her Ordinary Levels. In 2009 the Ministry of Education facilitated her A level studies and she scored 12 points which qualified her for university education. By then Maud had made enough noise through screaming headlines in newspapers that she easily attracted well-wishers. She was awarded a US$10 000 scholarship by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to embark on a degree programme at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). She was fourteen.

Maud scored distinctions in her Bachelor of Accountancy Honours degree studies at UZ. She graduated on 29 September 2016. She was 18. She continued with her studies and graduated with a Masters in Accountancy from the same college on 10 October 2018.

Munyaradzi Madambi, dean of students at UZ described Maud as “a very warm and polite young woman whose intelligence and maturity shines through.“She is confident, efficacious and unique in the sense that you don’t normally expect this position among kids from underprivileged backgrounds,” said Madambi.

Maud’s hard work and achievements have been acknowledged in various spheres.In October 2013, she was a delegate at the launch of a Terre des hommes campaign for girls education in Rome, Italy.

While still in primary school in 2007, she was named the best student under the most difficult conditions in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe.

In September 2012 her story was carried on the international news channel Cable News Network (CNN). In December 2012, she was ranked number twenty on the Forbes’ list of Top 100 Youngest Powerful Women in Africa which earned her the Great Young Achievers Award at the Great Women Awards held in Dubai. She also won the Panel Choice Award at the Zimbabwe International Women’s Awards in 2014.

April 15, 2021 The Minister of Sport, Arts and Recreation of Zimbabwe Kirsty Coventry appointed Maud to the Zimbabwe Youth Council Board.

Maud did not walk alone on the road to academic stardom. She assisted her young brother Mukundi who managed to enrol at the same college at the age of sixteen.

Mukundi’s story was captured by the Sunday Mail on October 18, 2015

“My parents passed away when I was very young. I was three when my father passed on and I never stayed with my mother because she was ill for as long as I can remember and she passed on in 2011.” said Mukundi.

Born on April 22, 1999 Mukundi started school at the age of five and had to walk over seven kilometres to the make-shift school. Being the youngest in a class of over 70 children, he says he was a fast learner whose aim was to outshine his colleagues and his sister, Maud.

Maud said his brother was very competitive and he wanted to be better than her in everything that they did.

She says at times she would carry her brother on her back to school. Mukundi had to drop out of school in 2008 when he was doing the final term of Grade Six due to financial challenges.

The only schooling opportunity available for Mukundi was at a secondary school which means he was forced to skip Grade Seven and start Form One that same year. “I passed with flying colours and I proceeded to Form Two the following year, “When I was in Form Three, a benefactor from the Ministry of Education at Chegutu district office volunteered to pay for my fees and I was transferred to Moleli High School.”

However in 2012, the well-wisher who was paying his fees passed on.Mukundi then turned to vending and for a whole year he was selling vegetables in the small town of Chegutu.

“I used to watch other children of my age go to school or play street soccer and I could not do that. It pained me that I could not have a normal life, a life that children my age had,” he said.

His sister then on industrial attachment at the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), raised money for Mukundi to sit for the November 2013 O-Level examinations.

“I started preparing for the examinations in September and since I had no money for a tutor I had to do it on my own. To be honest it was hard because I had last laid my eyes on a book the previous year when I was still at Moleli and it was a real uphill struggle but I was determined to make it,” said Mukundi.

In November Mukundi sat for O level exam and passed with 4Bs and 2Cs.

Maud managed to get a sponsor for her brother to do his Advanced Level studies at Mazowe High School.

Mukundi passed his A level exams and enrolled at the UZ at the age of 18 for a Business Studies programme.

“I never knew my father since he passed on when I was very young, but I think he knew I was going to overcome a lot in life, I think he knew I was a victor, hence the name Mukundi.” Mukundi is a word which in the Shona language means Victor.

“I know I would not have done it without my role model and the only friend I have ever known, Maud and I am very grateful.”

About her brother Maud had this to say “He is my brother, I love him. I want him to be his own man, I did what any sister would do for his brother.”