Chenhamo Chakezha "Chen" Chimutengwende (28 August 1943 – 16 January 2025) was a Zimbabwean politician who was the Minister of State for Public and Interactive Affairs. and a longstanding supporter of

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

. On 31 March 2008, Chimutengwende lost his parliamentary seat in the general election, which ended his 23-year career as a Member of Parliament. From September 2009, he was chairman of the Zimbabwe Foundation for Sustainable Development.

Early years

Chimutengwende was born on 28 August 1943, in Chiweshe, Mazowe District, Mashonaland Central Province, to John Nyangoni and Ronia Nyangoni (née Rusere). He was the third of the family's eight children. He attended Gweshe Primary School in Chiweshe, followed by Highfield Secondary School in 1956. During the 1960s and 1970s, Chimutengwende lived in exile in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, where he directed the Europe-Africa Research Project from a basement in Gower Street. He was a member of the editorial board of '' Red Mole'', a paper closely associated with the

International Marxist Group The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s. In 1980, it had 682 members; by ...

. A staunch supporter of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

's China, he resigned from the editorial board when the paper criticised Mao's policies with regard to the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

of 1971. He earned a master's degree in social science and a PhD from the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

, writing a doctoral thesis on "Mass Media and the State in the Socio-Economic Development Process". He was the author of the book ''South Africa: The Press and the Politics of Liberation'' (Barbican Books, London, 1978).

Zimbabwean politics

After relations with Britain worsened during the early 2000s, Chimutengwende was used by the party as a negotiator. He had many personal ties to London and many connections within British politics. His attempts at reconciliation did not bear much fruit, however, as the governments of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

and

continued to denounce one another in public. During the 2005 parliamentary election, Chimutengwende's opponent Shepherd Mushonga accused him of being hypocritical for supporting Mugabe. Chimutengwende responded by saying to a crowd in

Mazowe Mazowe is a village in Mashonaland Central province in Zimbabwe. Notable people * John Bredenkamp * Fortune Chasi * Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo *Auxillia Mnangagwa *Grace Mugabe *Joseph Msika Joseph Wilfred Msika (6 December 1923 – 4 August 20 ...

: "I love England, that country will always have a special place in my heart, but I am a proud Zimbabwean and always will be." Shepherd Mushonga was notably in favour of Mugabe's controversial land reform programme, whereas Chimutengwende was more introspective about the issue. Chimutengwende said his position was that he favoured land reform as such, and land redistibution in particular, but he did not think it was done in a good way. He was, however. noted for being "deeply loyal" to President Robert Mugabe. Chimutengwende won the election with 18,041 votes, compared to 7,567 votes for Shepherd Mushonga and 386 votes for Gideon Chinogurei of ZAPU. From 2005, Chimutengwende was placed on the

United States sanctions United States government sanctions are financial and trade restrictions imposed against individuals, entities, and jurisdictions whose actions contradict U.S. foreign policy or national security goals. Financial sanctions are primarily administ ...

list. He died on 16 January 2025, at the age of 81.

References

External links

"The Profile of Chen Chimutengwende"
, Afrika Global Network (AGN).
"Chen Chimutengwende"
at IMDB. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chimutengwende, Chenhamo 1943 births 2025 deaths 20th-century Zimbabwean politicians Alumni of the University of Bradford Members of the 5th Parliament of Zimbabwe Members of the 8th Parliament of Zimbabwe Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe Members of the Senate of Zimbabwe ZANU–PF politicians Zimbabwean expatriates in the United Kingdom