Mabel Memory Chinomona (born 21 January 1958) is a

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an politician who is the current president of the Senate of Zimbabwe. Previously, she served as deputy speaker of the National Assembly from 2013 to 2018, and as MP for Mutoko North until her election as senate president in 2018. She has also served as secretary of the

ZANU–PF Women's League The ZANU–PF Women's League is the women's wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), the ruling political party of Zimbabwe. It was founded in 1977 by Zimbabwe African National Union nationalists in Xai-Xai, M ...

since 2017.

Early life and education

Chinomona was born on 21 January 1958. She attended Nyamuzuwe High School, where she received her junior certificate, before going on to earn her Ordinary Levels at Murewa High School. She later went on to receive tertiary certificates from Speciss College and Kushinga Phikelela Polytechnic. She joined the liberation movement in 1975 during the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

Political career

After Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, Chinomona served as the ZANU–PF Women's League chairman for

Mashonaland East Province Mashonaland East, informally Mash East, is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 32,230 km2 and a population of approximately 1.73 million (2022). Marondera is the capital of the province. Demographics The province has a histo ...

. She served in that role until 1990, when she became political commissar. She was also involved in the Women's League as

commissariat A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries. In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary. In some a ...

director. She also worked in the Ministry of Local Government for ten years, and served as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. In February 2016, while serving as provincial head of the Women's League in Mashonaland East, Chinomona was suspended from ZANU–PF in a

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

by the party's provincial coordinating committee. The reason given was that she had been neglectful in facilitating a planned trip by a group of Women's League members to Harare to meet President

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 ...

. However, the real reason was reportedly her association with

Emmerson Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa ( , ; born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as the president of Zimbabwe since 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former president Robert Mugabe, he held a series of cabin ...

Lacoste Lacoste S.A. (; ) is a French designer sports fashion company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, and entrepreneur André Gillier. It sells clothing, footwear, sportswear, eyewear, leather goods, perfume, towels and watches. The ...

political faction within the party. The influential party member Sydney Sekeramayi reportedly intervened on her behalf. After the vote of no confidence, she continued to serve in the Women's League, but this time as political commissar. After the

2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état In November 2017, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe was removed as president and party leader of ZANU–PF and was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa. On the evening of 14 November 2017, elements of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) gathered ...

, she clinched the Women's League's top office as secretary. As secretary, she is also automatically a member of the party's politburo. In the 2013 general election, Chinomona was elected to Parliament for the Mutoko North constituency. She was sworn in on 3 September 2013, and was elected Deputy Speaker of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. She was reelected as MP for Mutoko North in 2018, but vacated the seat when she was elected

president of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

Personal life

Chinomona is a widow and has two sons and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinomona, Mabel 1958 births Living people 20th-century Zimbabwean politicians Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe Government ministers of Zimbabwe People from Mashonaland East Province Presidents of the Senate of Zimbabwe ZANU–PF politicians Zimbabwean guerrillas Zimbabwean women in politics Members of the 8th Parliament of Zimbabwe