Matabeleland North Provincial Medical Director Mr Lifias Masukume has died of Covid 19 related complications.
Mr Masukume had been admitted at the United Bulawayo Hospitals. The sad news of his death was confirmed by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson, Mr Taungana Ndoro. Ndoro described Masukume’s death as a huge loss to the local education fraternity.
Message from the parent ministry
“We have learnt with great sadness the passing on of one of our own Lifias Masukume who was the Provincial Education Director for Matabeleland South Province. Masukume passed on this morning while admitted at UBH after succumbing to Covid-19. His death is a great loss to us because he was a hardworking and dedicated person.
“He was very much concerned with uplifting the education sector not only in the province where he was stationed but throughout the country. He carried out his work with great passion and dedication,” Mr Ndoro mourned.
A loss to the whole province.
Abednico Ncube, the minister of State for the province described Masukume’s death as a huge blow to the province. He described the late Msukume as a dedicated educationist who left a legacy to be cherished.
“He was a level headed person and a dedicated worker. During his term of office as PED we saw significant improvement in the education sector within the province such as improved state of our schools, especially in rural schools. He was a visionary and he always emphasised that he wanted to improve the state of schools, mostly in the rural areas,” Ncube said.
Burial arrangements will be announced in due course. Masukume joins a long list of distinguished and high profile casualties of the latest Covid 19 third wave outbreak in the country. One hopes that the masses will heed government’s calls to be vaccinatd and change their behaviour to curb the spread of the virus.