Umguza is a district in the southern part of

Matabeleland North Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe. With a population of 827,645 as of the 2022 census, it is the country's second-least populous province, after Matabeleland South, and the least densely Zimbabwean populated province. Matabele ...

province in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. It was formerly known as Esiphezini District.

Geography

Umguza District is bounded by Matobo and

Umzingwane Umzingwane is a village and the seat of Umzingwane District, Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in ...

districts in the southeast, Bulilima and Tsholotsho in the west, Kusile (formerly part of

Lupane District Lupane ( luːpɑːnɛ) District is located in the Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe, and it is also the Provincial Capital. The District is situated at an elevation of 976 m with a population of 107,000 inhabitants by 2022. Lupane Town ...

) in the north and

Bubi Bubi may refer to: * Bubi people, an ethnic group in Central Africa * Bubi language, a Bantu language spoken in Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea * Bubi District, Zimbabwe * Bubi River, a tributary of the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe * BuBi, a bicy ...

in the north and east. It surrounds the Bulawayo metropolitan area to the south on three sides.

Places in Umguza

* Ntabazinduna (Hill of the Chiefs) * Nyamandlovu a river valley where garden crops are raised.

Administration and politics

Umguza District is governed by the Umguza Rural District Council, which has its offices in Bulawayo. The district has one constituency, Umguza constituency, which was created out of the old Bubi-Umguza constituency. The constituency consists of the Nyamandlovu and Sawmills areas divided into fifteen wards. Obert Moses Mpofu was elected in 1990 and 1995 as the member of parliament from Bubi-Umguza Constituency, the predecessor constituency. In 2008 and in 2013 he filled the parliamentary seat for the Umguza constituency. He did not run in 2018.

Economy

The climate in the district is arid and the primary occupation is animal ranching. Among recent problems are "land barons" establishing illegal settlements, established without any concern for services such as water and electricity. In the 2000s and early 2010s, about a dozen farmers in the district grew

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

on a commercial basis. However due to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, the rains became erratic and transport of the crop to the auction house in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

, nearly away became too expensive. As of 2019, there was no commercial tobacco farmer in Umguza District.

Energy

In July 2021, ''AF Power Private Limited'' an

independent power producer An independent power producer (IPP) or non-utility generator (NUG) is an entity that is not a public utility but owns facilities to generate electric power for sale to utilities and end users. NUGs may be privately held facilities, corporations ...

(IPP) based in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

announced plans to design, develop, operate and maintain a 200 megawatt solar power plant, in Umguza District. The Umguza Solar Power Station, which will be built in phases in expected to add the first 50 megawatts to the national grid during 2022.

Notes and references

External links

* {{Geography of Zimbabwe, state=collapsed Districts of Matabeleland North Province