The Buja people are said to have settled in Mutoko coming from the north through Mhingari in what is now Mozambique.

They were led by Nehor-eka(or Nehoreka or Nohureka), his father Mukombwe, his brothers Nyanzunzu and Mukwiradombo and sister Chingate (Nyamungate).

This attempt has resulted in it being distorted to Nohoreka or Nohureka by local people in the area in an effort to accommodate its unusual structure.

The town includes a future based young artist Blessing Sulumba (King Shy) who rose fame in 2015 after his first album (Shasha dzega) which was also Sponsored by Childline Mutoko and launched at Starbrite Talent Show.

The Mutoko District measures up to 678  km wide and has the famous teacher's college situated in the east.

In 1937 at nearby Mutemwa one of the few leprosy treatment centres in the country was established,[4] at which John Bradburne worked from 1969 until he was killed by guerrillas during the Rhodesian Bush War.

[6] Mutoko is also the birthplace of Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of the famous post-colonial novel Nervous Conditions, Wilson Katiyo, Dzekasburg, Chawasarira, Admire Mudzonga and many others who stood as luminaries in this area of Zimbabwe.

UK-based author, Masimba Musodza, although born and raised in Harare, is of the Buja people and takes pride in his heritage as a direct descendant of Nehor-eka.