Nelson Chamisa
The Right Honourable Nelson Chamisa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 15 February 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Morgan Tsvangirai |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 14 February 2018 | |
| President | Emmerson Mnangagwa |
| Preceded by | Morgan Tsvangirai |
| Minister of Information Communication Technology of Zimbabwe | |
In office 13 February 2009 – 31 July 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Morgan Tsvangirai |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Supa Mandiwanzira |
| Member of the Zimbabwean Parliament for Kuwadzana Central | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 2003 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1978-02-02) 2 February 1978 Fort Victoria, Rhodesia (now Masvingo, Zimbabwe) |
| Political party | Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai |
| Residence | Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Alma mater | Harare Polytechnic University of Zimbabwe |
| *No data available | |
Nelson Chamisa (born 2 February 1978[1]) is a Zimbabwean politician and former church pastor,[2] current MDC Alliance President and former member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Kuwadzana, Harare. He became the Secretary for Information and Publicity for the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),[3] and former national youth chairperson for that party.[1] Chamisa was the MDC Alliance's candidate for president in the 2018 general election.
Contents
1 Background
2 Education
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Background
Chamisa is a former chairperson of the MDC Youth Assembly. He was elected MDC spokesman at the party Congress in June 2006. In April 2011 at the Party's congress in Bulawayo, he was elected as the Party's Organising secretary, a post which previously belonged to Elias Mudzuri. In Parliament, he is a member of the portfolio committees of Defence and Home Affairs, Public Accounts, Gender and Youth and Transport and Communications. Chamisa is also a member of the Local Government, Public Works & Urban Development and the African Caribbean and Pacific Parliament. He is a former secretary-general of the Zimbabwe National Students Union.
In March 2007 he was attacked at Harare International Airport as he attempted to leave the country for Belgium; he was admitted to a hospital with a broken skull. On the current situation in Zimbabwe, he said, "There is no security. There is no protection. All of us are at risk."[3]
On 10 February 2009, Morgan Tsvangirai designated Chamisa for the position of Minister of Information, Communication, and Technology as part of the national unity government.[4] After taking office, he fell into a dispute with Webster Shamu, the Minister of Information and Publicity, regarding which ministry should deal with telecommunications. The Herald reported on 10 April 2009, that President Robert Mugabe had assigned responsibility for telecommunications to the Ministry of Transport, headed by Nicholas Goche.[5] Chamisa and Tsvangirai objected to this decision, saying that Mugabe had no power to unilaterally assign telecommunications to another ministry under the terms of the power-sharing agreement.[6]
Chamisa served as a cabinet minister from February 2009 to July 2013, until the end of the Government of national Unity. He also served as the Movement for Democratic Change's (MDC-T) organising secretary. He lost the position of party Secretary General in the party's 2014 congress to Douglas Mwonzora. Chamisa has been accused of barring other youth and student leaders from having closer access to party president Tsvangirai, a move allegedly meant to protect his position. After the expulsion of Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma, Chamisa's relationship with Morgan Tsvangirai deteriorated; he was apparently not well liked by Tsvangirai's loyalists. On 16 July 2016 Chamisa was appointed as co-Vice President of the MDC by Tsvangirai to serve alongside Mudzuri and Khupe.
When party leader Morgan Tsvangirai began battling colon cancer, power struggles began to ensue in the party, mainly between the three Vice Presidents Chamisa, Elias Mudzuri and Thokozani Khupe. On 14 February 2018, it was announced that Tsvangirai had succumbed to colon cancer in hospital and the next day, the Party's national council appointed Chamisa acting President for a period of 12 months effectively elbowing Mudzuri and Khupe out. As the new President of the MDC-T he also took over the role of President of the MDC Alliance.
Education
Chamisa holds a bachelor's degree in political science and public administration, and an LLB (Honours) from the University of Zimbabwe. He is a qualified lawyer and has worked for Harare law firm Atherstone and Cook since November 2014. In 2016, he obtained a degree in Pentecostal Theology from Living Waters Theological Seminary of Harare, a seminar affiliated with the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe.[7]
See also
- 2007 Zimbabwean political crisis
References
^ ab "Nelson Chamisa". Movement for Democratic Change Online. Movement for Democratic Change. Retrieved 2007-04-01..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "PROFILE: Nelson Chamisa, the young rival seeking Zimbabwe poll upset". www.enca.com.
^ ab "Zimbabwe stops activists leaving". BBC Online. 18 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
^ "Zimbabwe: Full Tsvangirai MDC Cabinet List", SW Radio Africa (allAfrica.com), 10 February 2009.
^ "Mugabe gives ally control of telecoms", Sapa-AFP (IOL), 10 April 2009.
^ Lance Guma, "Zimbabwe: Chamisa Says Mugabe Has No Power to Trim His Ministry", SW Radio Africa (allAfrica.com), 14 April 2009.
^ Herald, Chamisa now a pastor, herald.co.zw, USA, 28 November, 2016
External links
- The Zimbabwe Situation
The battle to ban Mugabe's men, Daily Mail
- Nelson Chamisa attacked
Parliament of Zimbabwe | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ??? | Member of the Zimbabwe Parliament from Kuwadzana Central 2003-2018 | Succeeded by Charlton Hwende |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Morgan Tsvangirai | Ministry of Information and Communications Technology 2009-2013 | Succeeded by Supa Mandiwanzira |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Morgan Tsvangirai | President of Movement for Democratic Change 2018-present | Incumbent |
 Ministers of the Zimbabwean Government of Morgan Tsvangirai | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
February 2009–September 2013 (in coalition) | |||||
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