Harare – Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi was named the top-performing Cabinet Minister for 2025, as President Emmerson Mnangagwa presided over the annual Performance Contract Signing and Awards Ceremony in Harare on Monday.

The event, held at the Harare International Conference Centre, saw Minister Rwodzi take the top spot, followed by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr. Anxious Masuka as first runner-up. Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi was named second runner-up .

In the provincial affairs category, Ezra Chadzamira (Masvingo) was named the best-performing Minister of Provincial Affairs, with Advocate Msheck Mugadza (Manicaland) and Owen Ncube (Midlands) securing first and second runner-up positions respectively.

The evaluations also recognized top-performing Permanent Secretaries, with Obert Jiri (Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development) leading the pack. Vimbai Nyemba (Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs) was first runner-up, while Ambassador Albert Chimbindi (Foreign Affairs and International Trade) took second place.

Deputy Minister Vangelis Haritatos (Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development) was named the best-performing Deputy Minister, followed by Joshua Sacco (Transport and Infrastructural Development) and Norbert Mazungunye (Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs).

Several ministries were recognized as most improved, including Information and Communications Technology; Home Affairs; Foreign Affairs; Energy and Power Development; Finance; Youth Empowerment; and Defence.

President Mnangagwa said the performance contracting framework, now in its second cycle under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), is central to accelerating the country’s goal of attaining an upper-middle-income economy by 2030 .

“This ceremony reflects our unwavering commitment and resilience in delivering public services with efficiency as we march forward towards the realisation of Vision 2030,” President Mnangagwa said.

The President noted that the system had garnered international recognition, particularly at the African Peer Review Mechanism forum, where it was commended as a benchmark for economic governance .

In the broader public sector evaluation, 120 Chief Executive Officers of State parastatals were assessed. Of these, 75 met their set targets, 35 performed below target but remained within variance, while 13 fell below target and outside acceptable variance.

All 13 Vice Chancellors evaluated met their targets, with 12 achieving set goals and one performing below target but within variance. Among 107 Board Chairpersons assessed, 57 met their targets, 44 performed below target but within variance, and six failed to meet their targets.

The performance contracts are part of government-wide reforms to institutionalize accountability and ensure that public officials deliver tangible results in line with NDS2 and broader continental development frameworks, including the African Union’s Agenda 2063 .