Kadoma

Sister cities

• Stevenage
• Windhoek

History

The city of Kadoma was known as Gatooma until after independence, on 18 April 1982, when new names for 32 places were gazetted. Gatooma was founded in the 1890s as a mining camp, and constituted under a village management board in 1907. The settlement was named after the nearby kraal of Chief Katuma, who is represented on the town's coat of arms by the mountain bearing his name and the chief's badge of office. The Specks Hotel was opened in 1907, and Jameson High School started the same year when Amelia Fitt, wife of the first mayor of Kadoma, started to give classes to the town children in her house. In 1917 Gatooma Municipality was created. A public electricity supply was introduced in Kadoma in 1922. The Grand Hotel opened in 1925 and had a sprung floor for dancing, the first such floor in Zimbabwe. In the 1970s Gatooma held highland games which was attended by the Salisbury Caledonian Society Pipe Band, Churchill School Pipe Band from Salisbury and the Northlea School Pipe Band from Bulawayo. The compound in which the workers lived in the 1960s and 70s was known as "Rio Tinto", Zimbabwe international player John Phiri, who also played in Europe, played for Rio Tinto as well as the State House Tornadoes and Darryn Textiles teams. The club continued into the 1990s. Coaches included John Rugg and Peter Phiri, (c.1938 – 23 March 2023). and other players at the club included Joseph Zulu and Gibson Sibanda (both later politicians), Ephert Lungu, Robert Godoka, Wonder Phiri, Stanley Nyika, goalkeeper Raphael Phiri,

Geography

The city is located in Kadoma District, Mashonaland West Province, one of the 10 administrative provinces in Zimbabwe. This location lies approximately , by road, southwest of Harare, the national capital and largest city in the country. The city lies on Highway A-5, between Harare and Bulawayo, approximately northeast of Bulawayo. Kadoma is situated at an elevation of above sea level.

Most-observed species

• Tawny-flanked Prinia

  Prinia subflava (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  7
• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5
• Black-backed Puffback

  Dryoscopus cubla (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  4
• African Palm-Swift

  Cypsiurus parvus (M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823) · Aves
  3
• Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird

  Pogoniulus chrysoconus (Temminck, 1832) · Aves
  3
• Black-collared Barbet

  Lybius torquatus (Dumont, 1805) · Aves
  3
• Pied Crow

  Corvus albus Statius Muller, 1776 · Aves
  3
• Common Bulbul

  Pycnonotus barbatus (Desfontaines, 1789) · Aves
  3