As her parting shot to those in business she said, “To those in business, though facing challenges you should not allow temporary setbacks to demotivate you because they do not define your future. Every great business story contains moments of uncertainty, but perseverance turns difficulty into progress. So today I challenge each one of us to dream boldly, work diligently, remain focused and inspire others through action because when one business succeeds many lives are changed also,” said Puwai.

Ngoni Dapira

IT is said the road to success is never easy but worth it. These are the sentiments of the 2026 Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Manicaland Business Awards, Businesswoman of the Year recipient, Patience Munyanduki-Puwai, the managing director of the retail and wholesale company, Denhigh Group of companies based in Mutare.

Puwai (with trophy) and her cousin brother Nathan Zimbudzi (with certificate) who is also an executive at Denhigh Group of Companies receiving the ZNCC Manicaland Businesswoman of the Year award early last month.

Last week Thursday, Puwai went further to win the first runner-up Businesswoman of the Year award at the ZNCC national business awards held in Victoria Falls. For her, that acknowledgement alone at national level motivates her, a former Primary school teacher cum businesswoman, to keep working harder and dreaming bigger. Puwai opened up to Easterntimeszim on her business journey, which is sob story that however shows that whilst God works in mysterious ways, in this world, fortune favours the brave.

She said being the first born in a family of six siblings, she had to grow up fast and become the breadwinner after losing both parents in a short space of time in 2000 and 2001. At the age of 24 with both parents deceased, Puwai had to make some really tough decisions and step out of her comfort zone to make ends meet.

“I first lost my mother Betina Munyanduki in 2000 then my father Cosmas Munyanduki also passed on the following year in 2001. That was a very difficult time because I was at Marymount Teachers College that time undertaking my Diploma in Education that I had started in 2000. So losing both parents when we needed them the most as children really shattered us. I completed my Diploma in 2002, but it was under some very difficult circumstances. As the first born, I had five other siblings to now consider. The one that followed me was in Form 6, then the others in Form 4, Form 2, Grade 7 and last born in ECD (Early Childhood Development),” said Puwai.

Puwai said they lived in Chigodora village and one day in 2001 a few months after the death of her father, she just woke up early in the morning and decided to collect some mango’s and guavas from their garden then went to sell the fruits at the Dangamvura bus terminus rank in Mutare. From the proceeds that day, she says she bought 2kg of sugar, two loaves of bread and also saved money, Zimbabwean dollars, which were equivalent to about US$5.

Puwai with her husband at her last born sisters wedding.

“I remember that when I got back home that day we feasted with my siblings and they were so happy. The next morning my other siblings woke up with me to go and collect the fruits and we added charlotte onions this time. After two weeks of doing this routine and saving money I had about US$100 equivalent in Zimbabwean dollars and realized that this was a viable business,” she said.

She started ordering vegetables from farmers in Chigodora such as spinach (tsunga) and rape and she decided to not only sell at the Dangamvura bus terminus rank, but move around town. As fate had it, Puwai said she passed through the Indian owned household and appliance store, Mutare Mart, with her vegetables and Mrs Aibani the wife of the owner of the store bought all her vegetables. She asked her if she could get pure honey for them and she said yes. Excited about the order, she went to look for the honey in Chigodora at village head Chishakwe’s homestead because she knew he kept beehives. She bought 24 bottles of honey and got three for free. From the honey proceeds alone, she remembers being able to pay school fees for her siblings in Form 4 and Form 2.

“So from that day onward I would always pass through Mutare Mart, but one day Mrs Aibani asked me why I ventured in the vegetable vending business at such a young age. I dont know what overcame me but I instantly burst into tears to the extent that Mrs Aibani ended up feeling bad. After about 45 minutes of crying I eventually calmed down then explained my story to her. She said I look like a very clever young lady and she wanted to help me, but I had to get a passport first. I went and applied for a passport and when it came out she introduced me to some old ladies that imported their goods for them in South Africa. They taught me how to become a stock broker or a runner in street lingo, and that is what I started doing for Mutare Mart,” said Puwai.

Puwai with Anyway, a pupil at Banda Primary School, who had brought her some maize cobs as a token of appreciation. Anyway’s mother had a mental condition, so she paid school fees for him and helped take care of him during her teaching tenure at the school.

Puwai did stock broking for Mutare Mart whilst completing her Diploma in Education in 2002. She said she got a teaching place in Bocha at Banda Primary school in Chiadzwa where she taught Shona to Grade 3 pupils.  She said she continued selling vegetables and farm produce like eggs and chickens whilst she was teaching. She would sell at her house to villagers in Bocha and on weekends deliver orders to her clients in Mutare when she went home in Chigodora. She ordered large volumes of eggs from the late Jonathan Kadzura’s farm in Marange and distributed them. Working hard, in 2002 she managed to rent a house in Chikanga. Later on that same year she got married to Gashirai Puwai who was an insurance agent at Fidelity Life Insurance back then and they moved to live in Yeovil, a medium density suburb in Mutare.

She continued to work on expanding her business venture of selling farm produce and vegetables. The banks could not finance her but she was able to get a salary based loan from a micro finance institution, Emporium Capital. She said she worked hard and grew her client base selling the eggs and chickens and vegetables and during the school Holidays she would go to South Africa as a stock broker for Mutare Mart.

Puwai enjoying family time.

“Life changed. The following year in 2003 we had our first born daughter and things were promising. I continued to hustle and we decided to move to a bigger house. I kept on working for Mutare Mart as a commodity broker not only buying goods in SA, but even in Harare, I would buy in bulk commodities like soya chunks and matemba (carpenter fish) then pack them and sell to Mutare Mart. Even peanut butter I would supply as well,” she said.

In 2005 she transferred from Banda to Shundure Primary School near Bazeley Bridge where she was now able to commute daily from home. At Shundure she said there were acres of irrigated land there, so she again created a market for vegetables where she ordered in bulk and supplied to vendors at the downtown Bata market in Mutare at the Chikanga bus terminus. This helped cover her daily transport costs. From Shundure she again transferred to Rowa Primary School in Zimunya which was even closer to town and then to Zimunya Primary School.

The Denhigh Group of companies retail and wholesale chain downtown Mutare.

Puwai said it was however, between 2008 and 2009 that she really struck gold in commodity broking when goods were scarce during the hyperinflation era. She managed to supply many goods and make a lot of money that they were able to buy their first house in Chikanga, which she paid for in installments. She continued balancing stock broking and teaching, but it was on the 1st of April 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown, whilst schools were closed that she upped her game and started Denhigh and opened her first shop downtown opposite Bhadella Wholesale in Mutare.

She said she started supplying one truckload of sugar and it sold fast then as fate had it once again, she was approached by Bruce Henderson who was the chief executive officer of Willowton Group Zimbabwe back then, who gave her two truckloads of Delite cooking oil and two trucks of Britelite soaps on consignment. The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, Mega Market also came in and supplied her with flour, mealie meal and rice on consignment. Mealie meal was scarce that time and the import ban on mealie meal was lifted. She was linked by Henderson to a stock broker in Polokwane in South Africa who supplied her with mealie meal and said she says she made a lot of money throughout the covid-19 period just through selling mealie meal.

Puwai in her shop where she had stock piles of mealie meal during the covid-19 lockdown period.

“I then opened our second shop and Brice Henderson gave me an order worth US$300 000 that I sold almost on cost but this gave me a lot of business. We were now able to also get bank loans. I got loans from NMB and AFC banks to improve on my business. In our sector, loans are easy to repay because wholesaling and retailing is a fast line, so cash is always readily available,” she said.

Part of the 30 employees now employed at Denhigh.

Puwai said in 2023 she decided to resign from teaching to put all her energy and time into her growing business empire. Now Denhigh Group of companies still located downtown opposite the former Bhadella Wholesale building has two wholesale outlets and liquor outlet. She said the liquor outlet is doing extremely well. The liquor outlet was opened in 2024. They also opened the Solar and Home outlet which sells solar equipment, furniture, pool tables and other household appliances, which they order from local manufacturers in Harare.

She also expanded into the transport business and currently has two 15 tonne trucks and one 30 tonne truck. They also want to venture into public transport this year, starting off with two buses. She is also now venturing into gold mining where she will soon start mining gold at her claim in Odzi that she acquired last year.

“The gold mining project I was inspired by Judith Shadaya who has become a leading example for women in mining in Manicaland. I would see her winning all these awards at the ZNCC awards and helping many women into mining and just felt motivated to try it out. I started off as a sponsor at some else’s claim in 2024 but when we got the profits that person said she did not want a sponsor anymore. So in 2025, I decided to look for my own claim and it took time, but I finally got a claim in Odzi. We are still fencing and setting up operations at the claim but we will start production soon,” she said.

Family comes first for Puwai. Spending time with her family and cousins.

From starting off with four employees at the first retail outlet, Denhigh Group of companies now has 30 employees. The mother of three, two girls and one boy, said business needs discipline and resilience. She said here saving culture of not wanting a flamboyant life and her highest level of financial discipline like what the Indian businesspeople do, helped her get where she is today. She said honesty is also critical in business. It took years to finally get the ZNCC Businesswoman of the Year award as she was First runner-up yesteryear, but in 2022 the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) had awarded her the Manicaland Businesswoman of the Year award.

As her parting shot to those in business she said, “To those in business, though facing challenges you should not allow temporary setbacks to demotivate you because they do not define your future. Every great business story contains moments of uncertainty, but perseverance turns difficulty into progress. So today I challenge each one of us to dream boldly, work diligently, remain focused and inspire others through action because when one business succeeds many lives are changed also,” said Puwai.