Ruwa Local Board is situated 23 km south-east of the capital Harare on the main Harare-Mutare highway and railway line. Ruwa falls within the Harare metropolitan Province and was officially established as a Growth Point in 1986 in terms of the Acts, Income Tax Chapter and Sales Tax Chapter. It was granted the Local board status through a warrant in 1990.

The council is a spoke council in the hub and spoke programme for gender mainstreaming in Zimbabwe, mentored by Harare City Council. The council serves 23,562 households with an average household size of 4.