Howard Unwin Moffat

Howard Unwin Moffat (13 January 1869 – 19 January 1951) served as second premier of Southern Rhodesia, from 1927 to 1933. Born in the Kuruman mission station in Bechuanaland (now in Northern Cape), Moffat was the son of the missionary John Smith Moffat and grandson of the missionary Robert Moffat, who was the friend of King Mzilikazi and the father-in-law of David Livingstone. After service in the Bechuanaland Border Police, Moffat moved to Bulawayo and served in the 1893 Matabele War and the Anglo-Boer War. He was elected to the Legislative Council in 1923 as member for Victoria and served as minister for mines & works under Charles Coghlan. He succeeded as premier after Coghlan's death in 1927 (his title was later changed to Prime Minister).

Moffat was viewed as a conservative, who believed that Rhodesia would eventually join the Union of South Africa. He oversaw the purchase, for £2 million, of the British South Africa Company's remaining mineral rights in Southern Rhodesia. His government passed the 1930 Land Apportionment Act, which defined the pattern of land allocation and ownership and is viewed as being one of the ultimate causes of the land disputes during land reform in Zimbabwe from 2000. He resigned in 1933 and was succeeded by George Mitchell; in the 1933 general election he lost his seat.

In the 1939 general election Moffat attempted to restart the Rhodesia Party but this met with failure.

References

• Bridger, P., House, M., and others, 1973. Encyclopaedia Rhodesia, College Press, Salisbury, Rhodesia.