US embassy cable - 02HARARE1982

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 001982 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR CGURNEY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2012 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE CABINET BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 
 
REF: HARARE 01943 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Kimberly Jemison for reasons: 1.5 (b) 
and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Reftel reported President Mugabe's August 24 cabinet 
reshuffle.  As promised reftel, we provide below additional 
biographic information on the new appointees (we have not 
included cabinet members who retained the same portfolios): 
 
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Ministry of Energy and Power Development 
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Amos Bernard Muvenga Midzi is the new Minister for this 
Ministry resulting from the division of the Ministry of Mines 
and Energy.  Amos Midzi has had a long career in government 
and most recently has served as ZANU-PF Provincial Chairman 
for Harare since April 2001.  Prior to that, Midzi served as 
ambassador to the U.S. from 1993 to 1999 and Ambassador to 
Cuba from 1987 to 1993.  Midzi was elected to Parliament in 
1980 and served until the mid-1980s.  From 1982-84, he served 
as the Deputy Minister of Transport and from 1984-87 as the 
Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport, and Culture.  He was also a 
member of the ZANU-PF Central Committee from 1984-89. 
 
Midzi began his studies at the University of Rhodesia in 1974 
but was subsequently arrested for participation in liberation 
activities and spent 3 years in political detention.  Midzi 
later returned to the University and received a degree in 
sociology in 1979.  He was born on July 4, 1952.  He is 
married (Alice) and has three children.  He is a member of 
the Zezuru ethnic group*the same as Mugabe. 
 
Reuben Marumahoko, Deputy Minister:  Reuben Marumahoko was MP 
for Hurungwe East before becoming Deputy Minister.  His seat 
was one challenged and won by the MDC in the High Court but 
no by-election has yet been held.    He is a businessman and 
is married.  He is a ZANU-PF branch political commissar.  He 
has an O level education and a diploma in business 
management.  Marumahoko was born on April 4, 1948. 
 
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Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development 
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Sithembiso Nyoni is the Minister of this newly created 
Ministry.  Mugabe elevated the former Informal Sector 
department in the president,s office, which Nyoni headed, to 
a full ministry in order to boost the informal sector with 
facilities and financial support. 
 
Nyoni is from Bulawayo's Makokoba constituency and was born 
on 20 September 1949.  She is married.  Prior to being 
elected to Parliament in 1994, she was a teacher, development 
consultant, and a lecturer.  She has worked in rural 
development and in women in development.  She has a diploma 
in rural and social development, an advanced diploma in adult 
education, and a M.A. in rural social development. 
 
Kenneth Kaparadza Mutiwekuziva, Deputy Minister: Kenneth 
Mutiwekuziva was a MP from Mashonaland East prior to assuming 
this position.  He has a diploma in education, Administration 
and Policy Studies.  He is married and was born on May 27, 
1948. 
 
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Ministry of Mines and Mining Development 
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Edward Chindori-Chininga, who was the Minister of Mines and 
Energy, will head this Ministry.  Its focus is to resuscitate 
closed mines and assist those facing operational 
difficulties.  The Ministry will also ensure that small-scale 
miners (gold panners) are organized, do not damage the 
environment, and sell their product to the Reserve Bank and 
not on the black market.  It will also explore marble, 
granite, diamond, and platinum mining.  Chindori-Chininga's 
wife, Linda, is an American citizen from Houston. 
 
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Ministry of State for Special Affairs 
--------------------------------------------- - 
John Landa Nkomo, an Ndebele, is the head of this newly 
formed sub-ministry.  There is no indication of what his new 
responsibilities will be but Brian Raftopoulos, one of 
Zimbabwe,s most perceptive political analysts, thought the 
assignment could be a prelude to the Vice Presidency.  It 
could be a way to disengage him from day-to-day ministerial 
responsibilities and give him a chance to acquire a broader 
perspective in preparation for his new duties.  Nkomo was the 
Minister of Home Affairs prior to this appointment.  He is 
still the ZANU-PF National Chair.  John Nkomo was born on 
August 22, 1934 and is married. 
 
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Ministry of State, Science and Technology Development 
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Olivia Muchena is the Minister of this new office created to 
help the government address the development of science and 
technology.  Olivia Muchena was formerly the Minister of 
State in VP Msika,s Office.  She has also served as Deputy 
Minister of Agriculture.  She has spent a large part of her 
career in education and working in the NGO world.  In the 
past, she was considered a respected technocrat with 
political savvy and a sensible proponent of indigenization 
and economic liberalization, but we have had little recent 
contact with her. 
 
Muchena participated in the liberation struggle both as a 
student activist at the University of Rhodesia and as a 
member and chairperson of ZANU branches in Edinburgh (UK) and 
Rochester-Syracuse-Ithaca, New York. 
 
She received a Ph.D. in Agricultural Education (extension) 
from Iowa State University in 1990, a M.S. in Extension and 
Rural Development from Cornell in 1977, and a B.A. from 
University College of Rhodesia in 1970.  Olivia Muchena was 
born on August 18, 1946. 
 
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Ministry of Transport and Communications 
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Witness Pasichigare Magunda Mangwende is the new Minister 
replacing Swithun Mombeshora.  Prior to his appointment, 
Mangwende was serving as ZANU-PF,s deputy secretary for 
administration.  He has held several ministerial positions, 
including Minister of Lands, Agriculture, and Rural 
Resettlement; Minister of Education and Culture; and Minister 
of Foreign Affairs from 1981-87. 
 
Mangwende studied for his doctorate in international 
relations at the London School of Economics during the years 
of national struggle.  He was the President of ZANU,s 
Zimbabwe Student Union.  For his undergraduate education, he 
first attended the University of Rhodesia from 1970 to 1973 
but was expelled.  He subsequently attended the University of 
Southampton in England where he received a B.A. in 
International Relations. 
 
Mangwende was born on October 15, 1946 in Charter.  He is 
married and has no children.  Mangwende may have a drinking 
problem. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Ministry of Home Affairs 
-------------------------------- 
Kembo Mohadi is the new Minister replacing John Nkomo.  He 
was promoted from Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public 
Works, and National Housing. 
 
Mohadi is a former member of ZIPRA (Zimbabwe African 
People,s Revolutionary Army), the armed wing of PF ZAPU 
during the war.  He is currently in the middle of an ongoing 
murder investigation involving his wife,s &alleged8 lover. 
 Some within law enforcement and the victim,s family feel 
the investigation will be undermined because Mohadi is now in 
charge of the police force.  As mentioned in reftel, Mohadi 
has intervened personally to try to exert control over NGO 
food distribution efforts. 
 
Mohadi was born on November 15, 1949. 
 
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Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 
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Herbert Murerwa is the new Minister replacing Simba Makoni. 
He was moved from the Ministry of Industry and International 
Trade to take over the position of Minister of Finance and 
Economic Development, a position he previously held from 
1996-2000.  He was the Minister of Industry and Commerce from 
1995 to 1996; appointed the Minister of Environment and 
Tourism in 1990; and was the High Commissioner to the UK from 
1984-1990. 
 
Murerwa received a Ph.D. from Harvard in educational planning 
but he has no economic expertise.  Murerwa was born in 1941. 
He and his wife, Ruth, have 5 children. 
 
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Ministry of Industry and International Trade 
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Samuel Mumbengegwi is the new Minister replacing Herbert 
Murerwa.  Samuel Mumbengegwi was moved from the Minsitry of 
Higher Education and Technology. 
 
Kenneth Manyonda, Deputy Minister: Kenneth Manyonda was an MP 
from Buhera South before becoming Deputy Minister.  MDC 
leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost the 2000 parliamentary election 
to Manyonda, but won his High Court challenge of Manyonda's 
victory.  The GOZ has not yet fulfilled its obligation to 
schedule a re-run of this election.  Manyonda was governor of 
Manicaland prior to the Parliamentary elections.  Manyonda 
was born on August 10, 1934. 
 
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Ministry of Health and Child Welfare 
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David Parirenyatwa is the new Minister replacing Timothy 
Stamps.  David Parirenyatwa had been Deputy Minister of 
Health and Child Welfare since 1998 but had been Acting 
Minister since Stamps' illness.  Parirenyatwa was elected 
into the ZANU-PF provincial executive in 1989 and in 1994 was 
appointed a ZANU-PF Central Committee Member.  In November 
1997, he won the Parliamentary by-election for Murehwa North 
and became a Member of Parliament the following month. 
 
Parirenyatwa, born on August 2, 1950, is the eldest son of 
legendary Zimbabwe nationalist Dr. Samuel Parirenyatwa, 
Zimbabwe,s first black doctor.  He seems to be 
well-connected but is a silent tye.  He has a M.D., a B.SC. 
in chemistry from the University of London, and a M.B. BSC 
from Lagos University.  He is married and has 3 children. 
 
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Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education 
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Swithun Tachiona Mombeshora is the new Minister replacing 
Samuel Mumbengegwi.  Swithun Mombeshora was moved from the 
Ministry of Transport and Communications.  Mombeshora has 
been in government since independence.  After receiving an 
undergraduate degree in 1972 from University College of 
Rhodesia, received a medical degree from University of 
Birmingham in the mid-1970s.  He practiced medicine full-time 
until becoming a Member of Parliament for Makonde North in 
1980.  In 1981, he was appointed Deputy Minister of 
Agriculture and in 1985 he was moved to Deputy Minister of 
Lands, Agriculture, and Rural Resettlement.  From 1988 to 
1990 he was the Deputy Minister of Health and in 1990 he was 
appointed Minister of State for Local Government, Rural and 
Urban Development.  In 1998, he became Minister of State in 
the President,s Office. 
Mombeshora was born on August 20, 1945.  He and his wife, 
Lucy, have 3 sons and 3 daughters. 
 
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Ministry of State for State Enterprises and Parastatals 
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Paul Mangwana is the new Minister.  Paul Mangwana, who had 
been the Deputy Justice Minister since July 2001, assumes 
this position.  In July 2000, he became the ZANU-PF MP for 
Kadoma.  He is on the ZANU-PF legal committee. 
 
We have had limited dealings with Mangwana over the last year 
but he seemed to have moderate views and to be trying to 
silently influence the old guard in ZANU-PF.  He will not 
openly challenge senior officials and is more apt to tow the 
party line.  Mangwana is a lawyer by training.  He is 
married, has 4 children (3 sons and 1 daughter), and was born 
on August 10, 1961. 
 
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Ministry of State for Land Reform 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Flora Bhuka is the new Minister.  Bhuka, one of the youngest 
MPs in Parliament, was formerly the Minister of State in VP 
Muzenda,s office before assuming this position.  Bhuka won 
the 2000 Parliamentary seat for Gokwe East after successfully 
beating out the incumbent in the primary.  Before becoming a 
MP, Bhuka was political commissar (since 1997) and from 
1990-1995, she was a teacher in the Midlands region.  She is 
a gender activist and an advocate for modernizing the 
educational system.  Flora Bhuka is 34 years old and was born 
in Gokwe.  She is not married and has 2 children. 
 
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Ministry of local Government, Public Works, and National 
Housing 
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Chief Fortune Charumbira is the new Deputy Minister.  Chief 
Fortune Charumbira was the Masvingo chiefs, representative 
in Parliament prior to becoming Deputy Minister.  He is an 
outspoken supporter of the land redistribution exercise.  He 
is married and was born on June 10, 1962. 
 
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Ministry of Rural Resources and Water Development 
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Tinos Rusere is the new Deputy Minister.  Tinos Rusere was MP 
of Zaka East (one of the country's most violent districts in 
the period preceding the presidential election) before 
becoming Deputy Minister.  He is an outspoken supporter of 
the land redistribution exercise.  He has an O level 
education with diplomas in civil engineering, mining, and 
personnel management.  His interests include going to church 
and listening to gospel music.  Rusere was born on May 10, 
1945. 
 
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Ministry of Mines and Mining Development 
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Jaison Max Kokerai Machaya is the new Deputy Minister. 
Jaison Machaya was an MP from Gokwe South before becoming 
Deputy Minister.  He is married, has an O level education, 
and was born on June 13, 1952. 
SULLIVAN