Top Civil servant Gonye buried

Elson Gonye (47), the head of Pay and Benefits Development and Management Agency who died of Covid19 related complications was buried at Gonye Village under Chief Murinye in Masvingo this afternoon.
He was hailed as top performer and a man who was changing the face of pensions for civil servants through his innovative investment strategies including the construction of industrial parks in Harare and Bulawayo, flats, prepaid parking lots, acquisition of shares in major banks and the construction of an elite hotel in Victoria Falls.
Gonye died due to Covid19- related complications while attending a Tripartite Negotiating Forum retreat in Victoria Falls.
Several Government departments were represented at the highest level. The Public Service Commission was represented by its secretary, Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe, the Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda was represented by the Commander 4 Brigade, Brigadier General Ephias Mahachi and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Simon Masanga together with several other civil servants of his rank were also present.
President Mnangagwa was supposed to be represented by the Minister of State and Devolution for Masvingo Ezra Chadzamira but due to other commitments the Provincial Economist, Clever Chinhara came in his place.
The Mirror also attended Gonye’s burial.
Gonye as head of the Pay and Benefits Development and Management Agency was in charge of the over $20 billion civil servants’ pensions portfolio and the whole Government wage bill also fell under him.
Masanga told the gathering that Gonye suddenly fell ill after lunch and 2 hours later he was dead after being admitted at a private hospital.
“I was told that he was not well after we attended the morning session together. I went to his hotel room to see him. We thought he was affected by the high temperatures on the day and this was therefore just a small thing. He was taken by an ambulance to hospital and barely 2 hours I was called and told to rush to hospital. I was shocked to hear that he had passed on,” said Masanga.
Ambassador Wutawunashe said Gonye’s investment strategies for Civil Service pensions were bound to grow the pensions.
“He was a rare civil servant. We were amazed by his strategies. He started in August 2019 in that position and the investments that he made then grew from $70 million to $21 billion,” said Ambassador Wutawunashe.
Brigadier General Mahachi brought a personal message from General Sibanda who described the late as a progressive and innovative man. He said that Gonye interacted regularly with the ZDF commander
Chief Murinye also attended the funeral.
“He began the Public Service Pension Fund with $70m in August 2019 when he joined the PSC and it now has a market value of $21, 225 billion with investments in banks including CBZ and FBC, a hotel in Victoria Falls among other investments”, said Ambassador Wutawunashe.
Gonye had also completed a Biometric Authentication exercise to thoroughly and rid Government’s payroll of ghost workers.
“We had over 200 applications for the post he was holding but he was the most qualified and suitable candidate and he proved himself. It will be hard to replace him because of his work ethic.
“His valuable input in various committees that support the work of the High Level Tripartite which includes Office of the President and Cabinet, PSC and Treasury which is driving Government’s reform agenda is a matter of record, particularly given his expertise as an actuarial specialist will be greatly missed,” said Ambassador Utaunashe.
Gonye was born on October 20, 1974 in Masvingo and he attended Shonganiso Mission Primary School before he went to Masvingo Day Secondary School for his O Level studies and Hama Mission School in Chirumhanzu for his A Level. He then trained as a teacher at Gweru Teacher’s College and taught at several schools in Masvingo.
He then enrolled for a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with Midlands State University and later a Masters in Actuarial Science at Heroit Watt University in Scotland and later a Masters of Business Adminstration (MBA) at University of Zimbabwe.
Gonye worked for several companies including Fidelity Life Assurance, Zimbabwe Actuarial Consultancy, Quantum Consultancy and PSMAS in various positions before he joined the PSC as head of Pay and Benefits Development and Management Agency in August 2019.
He is survived by his wife Chenayi and three children, two sons Tarumbidzwa (16), Tamiranashe (8) and a daughter Anashe (13).