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Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, [email protected] 

RENOWNED researcher and National University of Science and Technology (Nust) lecturer who also chaired the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) executive board, Dr Lerato Nare has died. 

He was 59. 

Dr Nare passed on last Friday at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo following a short illness. 

Nust executive Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, Dr Peter Nkala described the late Dr Nare as a distinguished academic and research fellow, saying his passion for research will be remembered. 

He said at the time of his death, he had received funding from the European Union to conduct some research on climate change, which was still ongoing. 

“I first met Dr Nare back in 1982, when he was my head boy at Mzingwane High School and then 20 years later we met at Nust when he joined the Institute of Development Studies,” he said.

 “He joined us as a research fellow and I can say he was a natural sciences pillar in the department because he brought in vast knowledge in hydrology. He was a well-decorated fundi with degrees from several institutions in Africa.”

Dr Nkala said the late Dr Nare worked on a lot of research projects and supervised several PhD students at Nust. 

“We are poorer as an institution and we will miss his dedication. He was a team builder and a hero in his regard,” he said

Dr Nare joined Nust in 2012 as a Research Fellow in IDS, where he lectured and chaired a research unit on water, climate and energy. Dr Nare also served on the IDS Executive Board and the Departmental Examination Board, the Faculty of Commerce Higher Degrees Committee and the Faculty Examinations Board.

Before joining Nust, Dr Nare worked at the University of Venda in Limpopo Province of South Africa from 2006 to 2011, where he taught hydrology and water resources, water resources management, water supply systems and introduction to climatology and southern African weather systems. 

In a condolence message, Nust said Dr Nare was a renowned researcher with several publications. 

“At the time of his passing on, he was involved in main-streaming participatory approaches into a huge European Union-funded project meant to improve the production and marketing of livestock in Zimbabwe. Dr Nare collaborated in several research and community engagements for several non-governmental organizations and the Government,” read the statement. 

“Some of the projects include main-streaming climate change into the development agenda of Provincial Development Committees (2021, Ministry of Environment, Water, Climate and Tourism), Covid-19 Impact Rapid Assessment (2020, Save the Children, Zimbabwe), Developing a strategy for adaptation against climate change for livestock farmers in Beitbridge District (2017-2019, Nust and evaluation of Wash projects in different locations in Zimbabwe (2020, Salvation Army).” 

Between 1998 and 2001, Dr Nare was contracted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) office for Africa in a series of short-term consultancies to facilitate the introduction of Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) and Participatory Health and Hygiene Education (PHHE) in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Tanzania.

Dr Nare worked for the Ministry of Health and Child Care as an environmental health officer for 24 years and rose through the ranks to provincial environmental health officer.

“He was the head of the Environmental Health Department first at the district level and later at the provincial level. During his time at the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe, Dr Nare was in charge of water and sanitation projects,” read the Nust statement.

Dr Nare held a PhD in Environmental Science, specialising in Hydrology from the University of Venda, an MSc in Integrated Water Resources Management from the University of Zimbabwe; a Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health from Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa; a Diploma in Public Health Engineering from the University of Mauritius and a Diploma in Environmental Health from the Bulawayo Polytechnic.

Mourners are gathered at Number 70 Northlea Road, Woodville in Bulawayo.

Dr Nare will be buried today at his rural home in Tongwe in Beitbridge District. 

“On behalf of the Nust council chairperson, the Vice-Chancellor, council, management and the entire Nust Community, we wish to express our deepest condolences to Mrs Sithokozile Nare,” said Nust.