Denis R. Norman (March 26, 1931 – December 20, 2019) was a British-Zimbabwean politician who spent a total of twelve years in the Cabinet of Robert Mugabe. He was known as "Nothing Wrong Norman" due to his penchant for trying to put a positive spin on difficult situations. From 2003 he lived in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, England, before his death on 20 December 2019.

Career

Norman headed the

Commercial Farmers' Union The Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe is an organisation that was formed to assist farmers in Zimbabwe with a variety of agricultural services. Farmers within the country pay a subscription fee which entitles them to the use of these services. C ...

when Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980. Norman was appointed Minister of Agriculture that same year, and held the position from 1980 to 1985. Mugabe asked Norman to leave the government after the

1985 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1985. Africa * 1985 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 1985 Gabonese legislative election * 1985 Ivorian parliamentary election * 1985 Ivorian presidential election * 1985 Lesotho general elect ...

which resulted in Ian Smith's faction winning most of the (minority-designated) white roll seats. The then-Prime Minister was aggrieved that the party which was sympathetic to ZANU-PF's cause did not win even though Mugabe had 'tried to appeal to the white population in Zimbabwe'. Norman proceeded to head the

Beira Corridor Group Beira can refer to: *Beira (mythology), the mother to all the gods and goddesses in the Celtic mythology of Scotland *Beira, Azores, a small village on São Jorge Island *Beira (Portugal), the name of a region (and former province) in north-centra ...

, before being appointed to two positions by President Mugabe – Minister of Transport and Minister of Power – from 1990 to 1997. As minister of transport, Norman began introducing safety regulations for public transport.

References

1931 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Zimbabwean politicians People educated at Bloxham School White Rhodesian people Rhodesian farmers Zimbabwean farmers Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom British emigrants to Rhodesia White Zimbabwean politicians 20th-century Zimbabwean businesspeople ZANU–PF politicians 20th-century British farmers {{Zimbabwe-politician-stub