Simon Muzenda

Simon Vengai Murefu Muzenda (born October 28, 1922 in Gutu , Masvingo Province , Southern Rhodesia ; † September 20, 2003 in Harare , Zimbabwe ) was a Zimbabwean politician who was foreign minister, vice-prime minister and most recently vice-president between 1987 and 2003.

Life

Muzenda, a carpenter by trade, had little formal schooling. He was politically active against British colonial rule early on and spent a large part of the time between 1962 and 1972 in prisons or was subject to residence restrictions by the colonial administration. In 1972 he fled into exile to neighboring Zambia and later to Mozambique , where he helped Robert Mugabe to rebuild the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). He was also one of Mugabe's supporters in the guerrilla war against the white government of Rhodesia led by Prime Minister Ian Smith .

After Rhodesia, renamed Zimbabwe, gained independence from Great Britain on April 18, 1980, he was first Vice Prime Minister in Mugabe's government between 1980 and 1987 and also Foreign Minister from 1980 until he was replaced by Witness Mangwende .

After the abolition of the office of Prime Minister and the introduction of a presidential executive system, Muzenda became Vice President of Zimbabwe on December 31, 1987, thus remaining deputy to Robert Mugabe. Because of his loyalty to Mugabe, he acquired wealth and power despite his poor education, although he was often the target of ridicule because of his simple origins and his often clumsy political actions. For example, in a speech to supporters of ZANU-PF in his native district in southern Rhodesia during the election campaign for the 2000 parliamentary elections, he stated that the party was so popular that “if we put a baboon as a candidate, so would the people vote for this ”('[…] if we put a baboon as a candidate, people will vote for it.').

Muzenda also assisted Mugabe with his controversial land redistribution program, saying that he is putting his intended resignation on hold to see the successful completion of the first phase of the program. In 2002, he was at the center of controversy when the predominantly white Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) accused him of forcibly evicting a farmer from his home in southern Asvingo Province.

He held the office of Vice President until his death and was replaced by Joice Mujuru after his funeral .

Web links

• Short biography (rulers.org)
• List of Foreign Ministers of Zimbabwe (rulers.org)