Patrick Chinamasa
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| Patrick Chinamasa | |
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Minister of Justice of Zimbabwe
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office July 2000 |
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| President | Robert Mugabe |
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Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Zimbabwe
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2000 |
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| President | Robert Mugabe |
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| Born | 25 January 1947  Rhodesia and Nyasaland |
| Nationality |  Zimbabwean |
| Political party |  ZANU-PF |
| Spouse | Monica Chinamasa |
| Children | Gamuchirai Chinamasa |
| Zimbabwe |
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Patrick Chinamasa is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.[1]
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[edit] Career
A leading member of the ruling ZANU-PF party, Chinamasa became first deputy Agriculture Minister, and then Attorney General of Zimbabwe; he also holds the role of Leader of the Zimbabwean Parliament.
Since his appointment, many Zimbabwean judges have resigned, complaining of political pressure.[2] On February 9, 2001 after Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay took early retirement at his suggestion,[3] Chinamasa held meetings with senior Justices Ahmed Ebrahim Nicholas (the last white justice on the Zimbabwean Court), and told them for their own safety to leave.[4]
In 2002, following what Chinamasa considered lenient conviction of three United States citizens caught and convicted of smuggling arms in an aircraft, Zimbabwean High Court judge Fergus Blackie brought successful charges against Chinamasa for a conviction of “scandalising the court.” Chinamasa had Blackie immediately arrested on charges of "corruption," on the grounds of having decided the case of a white woman improperly (on the basis of an alleged adulterous relationship and racist bias), and without the support of the other judge that was sitting with him on the matter.[5] After the case closed, Chinamasa declared various NGO's illegal, including leading Human Rights organisation the Amani Trust which provides support to victims of torture; and was reportedly accused of working with the British government to unseat President Robert Mugabe and destabilize the nation.[6]
On December 17, 2004, Chinamasa, who had been the Secretary for Legal Affairs of ZANU-PF, was removed from the party's Politburo.[7] In 2005, Chinamasa was ejected from his post as Justice Minister;[3] however, six months later he was returned to the post.
In September 2006, Chinamasa was cleared by a judge of trying to pervert the course of justice. Chinamasa was accused of trying to stop a prosecution witness, James Kaunye, from testifying in a case against the Minister of State for National Security, Didymus Mutasa, who had been accused of inciting public violence.[2]
He is among host of individuals not allowed to travel to the United States because the US government feels he has worked to undermine democracy in Zimbabwe.[8]
Chinamasa and Labor Minister Nicholas Goche met with Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube, secretary generals of the Movement for Democratic Change, in Pretoria, South Africa on June 16, 2007. South African President Thabo Mbeki, appointed by the Southern African Development Community, presided over the negotiations which seek to end economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.[1]
Chinamasa was nominated as ZANU-PF's candidate for the House of Assembly seat from Makoni Central in the March 2008 parliamentary election,[9][10] but he was defeated.[10][11] Chinamasa received 4 050 votes against 7,060 for John Nyamande of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).[11]
Within ZANU-PF, Chinamasa has been seen as an ally of Emmerson Mnangagwa since 2004.[12] As of 2008, Chinamasa is the Chairman of ZANU-PF's Information and Publicity Sub-Committee,[12][13] and in that capacity he has been acting as spokesman for ZANU-PF in the period following the 2008 presidential and parliamentary election, effectively taking over the roles of Minister of Information and Publicity Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and ZANU-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Nathan Shamuyarira.[12]
[edit] Farms
In February 2003, Chinamasa sent the police to arrest Peter Baker, a white farmer who had refused to vacate his farm, Rocklands, in favour of the Minister after successfully challenging its seizure in court. Eight months after the seizure, the farm's water supply has been squandered, undermining its future productivity and that of the neighbouring farms.[14]
In September 2003 Rosemary evicted white farmer Richard Yates from his 800-hectare tobacco farm Tsukumai Farm at Headlands, located east of Harare. Although the Chinamasas paid some compensation, Yates is still awaiting final payment and still considers the farm his in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. The following year Rosemary won the Zimbabwean Tobacco grower of the year award, together with a Z$24million prize and trophy as the 2004/2005 top grower at a ceremony in Harare on July 29. British MP Kate Hoey, who made a fact-finding visit to Zimbabwe earlier in the year, said the award was shocking: "It is like someone stealing a race horse and winning the Grand National.”[15] As a result, London based British American Tobacco came under pressure to stop its Zimbabwean associate company to stop sponsoring the award, which it did the following year.
[edit] Quotations
Asked whether the will of the Zimbabwean people would be subverted should Mr Mugabe lose, Mr Chinamasa said: "If people attempted to unfree themselves, moves would be made to free them."
[edit] Personal life
Married to Rosemary (born circa 1950), the couples children include:
- Chengetai – A self proclaimed bisexual.[16] Although banned from travelling in to the United States, gaining entry using his mothers surname he claimed his home location as Worcester, Massachusetts, where he studied and also worked for Keller Williams.[17] He died in November of 2007.[18]
- Gamuchirai – DoB 11 Nov 1991[19]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Zimbabwe Police Seize Opposition Leader's Passport VOA News
- ^ a b Court clears Zimbabwe's minister BBC News – 4 September, 2006
- ^ a b Mugabe dumps his hardline disciples Telegraph.co.uk – 5 January, 2005
- ^ Zimbabwe The countdown to Chaos – 2001
- ^ http://www.icjcanada.org/en/news_archive/news_blackie.pdf
- ^ Zimbabwe: Rights under siege: State intimidation of Human Rights NGO Amani Trust. | Amnesty International
- ^ Constantine Chimakure, "Mugabe fires Moyo", Zimbabwe Daily Mirror (zimbabwesituation.com), December 18, 2004.
- ^ US Dept. of Treasury[1] (accessed 02/07/2008)
- ^ "Zimbabwe: Zanu-PF Names Poll Candidates", The Herald (allAfrica.com), February 15, 2008.
- ^ a b "Is the ZEC sitting on results?", AFP (IOL), March 31, 2008.
- ^ a b Mutongi Gava, "VP Mujuru not defeated", newzimbabwe.com, March 31, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa Running Zanu PF Campaign", Zimbabwe Independent (allAfrica.com), May 8, 2008.
- ^ "Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF says to launch run-off campaign when ZEC sets date", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), May 15, 2008.
- ^ Rough justice as Mugabe's man grabs second farm Telegraph.co.uk – 19th October, 2003
- ^ SW Radio Africa – wall of shame
- ^ hi5 – chengetai
- ^ LinkedIn: Chengetai Chinamasa
- ^ allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Zanu-PF, MDC Negotiators Mourn Chinamasa's Son (Page 1 of 1)
- ^ Accuity
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