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 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 the ...

. 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,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, before his death on 20 December 2019.

Career

Norman headed the Commercial Farmers' Union when Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980. Norman was appointed

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

that same year, and held the position from 1980 to 1985. Mugabe asked Norman to leave the government after the 1985 elections which resulted in

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1 ...

'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, before being appointed to two positions by President Mugabe –

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

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