Arthur Mutambara

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Professor Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara (born October 25, 1966) is a Zimbabwean politician who was elected President of the Movement for Democratic Change in February 2006 by a a small break away faction of the party dominated by Gibson Sibanda and Welshman Ncube. The main wing is led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mutambara was a noted leader of the student movement within Zimbabwe in 1988 and 1989, leading anti-government protests at the University of Zimbabwe which led to his arrest and imprisonment. He was later educated on a Rhodes Scholarship at Merton College, Oxford in the United Kingdom where he obtained a PhD in Robotics and Mechatronics, and in the United States where he held several professorships in the same field, including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also worked as a Professor of Business Strategy and as a consultant for McKinsey & Company.

During the division in the MDC over participation in the elections to the Senate of Zimbabwe in late 2005, Mutambara supported those who thought the MDC should boycott the elections. However, when the party split he joined the faction which had supported participation, critical of the way Tsvangirai sought to impose his wishes on the party. The choice of Mutambara as leader was said to have been inspired by the fact that he is a Shona whereas Sibanda and Ncube are both Ndebele, but realised that only a Shona candidate could win an election across the whole of Zimbabwe. Mutambara is not a member of the House of Assembly and is therefore untainted by struggles within it.

The faction led by Tsvangirai described Mutambara's election as a nullity. Mutambara has opposed calls by some members of the MDC for economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, and in his acceptance speech stated that the MDC should not allow white farmers and the West to decide what happens in Zimbabwe. However, David Karimanzira, a leading member of ZANU - PF, alleged that Mutambara was promoted by the West after Western governments decided not to continue backing Morgan Tsvangirai because the Zimbabwean people had allegedly rejected his party manifesto.

Mutambara was arrested by the Zimbabwe police on May 19, 2006 while leading a march in support of his faction's candidate on the eve of the Budiriro byelection. He was also arrested and heavily beaten by the Zimbabwe Police on the 11 of March together with the other MDC leaders from the other faction. He was released on the 13th of March without charge, only to be re-arrested again on 18th of March at the Zimbabwe airport enroute to South Africa, where his family is still based, and where he is also a leading consultant. He was also released without charge after 3days in custody.