Brighton Chiseva
MASVINGO – Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) Masvingo provincial manager Abyssnia Vhoko has called it a day after serving the institution as manager for 19 years.
Vhoko joined the provincial office in 2003 from the Ministry of Health where he was the Provincial Health Education officer.
Born in 1957 in Zaka District, Vhoko did his primary education at St Anthony’s Central Primary School before enrolling at Mashoko High School in Bikita for Secondary education.
After completing secondary education, he went on to train as a medical assistant at Morgenster Mission Hospital and went on to train as a general nurse at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).
He worked in the ministry of health from 1979 to August 2003 and served in different positions over the time.
He worked as a bedside nurse, Tuberculosis (TB) Officer, Clinical Instructor, Health Education officer and Provincial health Officer until the time he joined ZNFPC.
At ZNFPC, Vhoko said he facilitated a number of developments, including team building, good provincial performance, and improved stakeholder networking and promoted public partnership.
A good director of ceremonies, Vhoko is also a farmer, marriage counsellor, book writer and has since published a book titled Journey of Marriage and above all, a family man.
On his future plans Vhoko said he wanted to concentrate on writing books and do consultancy work as well as farming.
“I will now concentrate on writing books and doing consultancy work. I also have a passion for farming so I will invest some time in it,” said Vhoko.
Former ZNFPC Provincial Accountant who is now Masvingo urban legislator Jacob Nyokanhete described Vhoko as a born leader who used his excellent leadership qualities to form a team that always won at the organization’s national ratings.
He said he was a fatherly figure who allowed his subordinates to fully exercise their potential without too much interference.
“Mr Vhoko is one of the excellent leaders I have ever met. I started working with him as a student in 2003 and rejoined the organization as a full time employee in 2006, and was later promoted to provincial accountant in 2009. He managed to build a very competent team and our province always won at the national ratings because of him.
“He would not interfere with people’s work and allowed everyone to execute his or her duties to the maximum abilities and when one fails, he would always give a second chance,” said Nyokanhete.
He went on to describe him as a professional leader who wanted everything to be done to the highest level and corruption free.
Another former colleague Olga Muza who is the Provincial Human Resources and Administration Officer said Vhoko is the best manager ZNFC has ever had and described him as a mentor who gave his subordinates direction and inspiration.
“He is one of the best managers ZNFPC has ever had. He was more of a mentor than a boss because he gave his subordinates direction and inspiration more than instructions.
“We celebrate the end of a terrific career that has achieved insurmountable goals, the knowledge and years of experience have brought the organization to where it is today,” said Muza.
ZNFPC Provincial Marketing and Communications officer Herbert Chikosi described Vhoko as a leader who cared about the well-being of his subordinates and cared to listen to everyone’s problems with his leadership philosophy being of leading by example and this has been witnessed by the successes recorded by ZNFPC Masvingo.
“Not all bosses are like Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, but Mr Vhoko embodies the traits of highly effective people as described by Steven Covey. Since Mr Vhoko has been our provincial manager for the past 19 years, we have had the great fortune of working with someone who genuinely cares about our personal well-being and professional advancement.
He was a student of emetic, mentoring new team members, providing unwavering support for initiatives, helping colleagues who were having work-related problems. He was the gerrymandering baker of excellence, as noted by many leaders who came through him.
“He was a patient, intelligent, and powerful man with a great demeanor for taking the time to explain things in a way that his subordinates could comprehend and then build on.
He believed in continuity, mentoring, and assigning work tasks to us that were sometimes quite difficult, but, allowed us to have the chance to expand our knowledge and build confidence in our abilities.
“His leadership philosophy was based on the idea that by setting an example, people can improve their abilities, increase their value, and establish a track record that makes them valuable. The valuable skills that he nurtured over the past years have been illuminated by the success of ZNFPC Masvingo.
“He was the gel that bound the team.
He had a strong human side to his leadership, humility defined him, and humor accentuated his character and tough when necessary.
We affably called him Mudhara wedu or Palatable,” said Chikosi.
