CHIVAYO GONE BUT CULTURE OF CAR- GIFTING LIVES ON
HARARE — Byword Motors, a Toyota dealership led by businessman and prisons commissioner Sternly Kondongwe, presented a fleet of white Hilux pickup trucks as part of a high-profile vehicle handover tied to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s launch of an expanded agricultural mechanization scheme Wednesday in Harare.
The announcement, first shared on X by the account @Samwacho, described the ceremony as underscoring private-sector partnership with the government.
Photos accompanying the post showed rows of new white Toyota Hilux vehicles bearing Byword Motors branding.
The presentation occurred amid Mnangagwa’s official launch of the Expanded Smallholder Agricultural Mechanisation Facility at the Institute of Agricultural Engineering in Hatcliffe, aimed at increasing access to farming equipment for rural producers under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa program.
Supporters of the handover said the vehicles would be distributed by the president to ministries and deserving individuals.
“Zvinokudzwa, President will distibute the cars to the most deserving Ministries and individuals,” one reply to the original post stated.
The post drew mixed reactions online. Critics questioned the priority of presenting vehicles to the president, noting recent hardship in Masvingo province.
One user wrote in Shona: “Masvingo yakarohwa nechimvuramabwe asi munowana pfungwa dzinoti indisai mota kuna president??” (Masvingo was hit by a hailstorm but you find thoughts saying give cars to the president?).
Another criticized the focus on presidential-linked handovers while ordinary citizens struggle with transport, and a third asked who owns Byword Motors. Some replies also questioned why locally assembled vehicles were not promoted instead.
Kondongwe’s company recently received recognition as the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Masvingo Transporter of the Year.
Official accounts confirmed Mnangagwa’s presence at the mechanization launch, which featured exhibitions of equipment from private-sector participants as part of efforts to modernize farming and support food security goals.
No independent confirmation of the exact number of vehicles transferred or their final distribution was immediately available from government statements.