Gweru Business Couple Honoured With Highest Order Gongs At The Zim CEO Network awards

By Own Correspondent

The Zimbabwe CEO Network has honoured Gweru business couple of Engineer Dr Mncedisi Dube and Professor Smelly Dube with Lifetime Achievements Awards of the Highest Order for their achievements in the engineering and construction sector.

The awards ceremony was held at the Hyatt Regency Harare the Meikles hotel on Friday 25th July 2025 and featured executives from various companies and parastatals such as the National Railways of Zimbabwe, Medicines Control Association of Zimbabwe, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, mobile network giant Netone and Hwange Colliery Company.

Through their private property development company RiverValley Properties, the Dube couple has provided descent homes to thousands of residents in Gweru, Shurugwi, etc after developing the high density suburb of Woodlands Park and Hertfordshire middle density surbub, among others.
The developments have therefore contributed to Zimbabwe’s quest of an upper middle income society/ economy under President Mnangagwa’s great Vison 2030.

The CEO’s Network noted that the hallmark of a modern nation is the infrastructural projects and developments that have occurred and are currently being undertaken hence awards to excelling individuals in that area.

Zimbabwe has been blessed to have leading captains in the Construction and Engineering domain and
their related facets that have demonstrated consistency in ensuring infrastructural modernization of Zimbabwe.

Eng Dr. Mncedisu Dube and Prof Smelly Dube were therefore honoured among captains in Aluminum service provision, brick makers, fabricators and other interrelated industry players at the momentous Harare occasion.

“Congratulations on being nominated and ultimately being a recipient of this award at the Esteemed
Construction and Engineering Captains! Road Construction experts, Leading Brick makers, Distinguished Town Planners and a plethora of Seasoned Construction and Engineering Captains.

” As a beacon of service excellence, this is a significant achievement and a testament to your dedication, creativity, and hard work in your respective professional arena,” said Dr T.P Matsika, lead organiser of the Zimbabwe CEOs Network in his congratulatory message to the Dube couple.

“Your innovative strategies and dedication for an optimum modern nation has caught the attention of industry experts and peers, and it is truly commendable that you have been recognized for your outstanding contributions.”

Eng Dube said he was elated to be awarded as best engineer in the construction field this year dedicating the award to the Rivervalley company “l am very happy to be awarded the best among all those fine business people and engineers that we have. Its an honour and a challenge for us to continue giving our best. I dedicate the award to the River Valley team so to them its also a challenge,” he said.

Prof Smelly Dube said the award came at a time when the company was exploring global opportunities for it to grow beyond the Zimbabwean borders.
“We have been exploring other opportunities outside Zimbabwe especially in the UK and Australia and our focus is to continue growing our business and more importantly reduce the country’s housing deficit”, she said.

Recently, Engineer Dr. Mncedisi Dube and Amb Professor Smelly Dube bagged prestigious awards in Kigali, Rwanda, at the 100 Most Notable Africans Leadership and Business Summit 2025 held from 4-6 July 2025.

Top economic experts, government officials, entrepreneurs, captains of industry, policy makers, and professionals were part of a pool of the award winners.
Among other things, the summit that honoured these luminaries aimed at showcasing and celebrating the achievements and contributions of African leaders and businesses to inspire future generations and promote a positive image of Africa globally.

Before that, Prof Smelly Dube had been inducted into the prestigious National Excellence Hall of fame in Harare – an honor made once every ten years, over the successes of the Rivervalley Group of Properties that Prof Dube leads as its Group Chief Executive together with her husband and the entity’s Executive Chairman Engineer Dr Mncedisi Dube.