Edna Madzongwe (born 11 July 1943) is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an politician who was the President of the Senate of the Republic of Zimbabwe from 2005 to 2018.

Political career

She was elected as President of the Senate on 30 November 2005, the first female to hold this position. In the March 2008 parliamentary election, she was re-elected to the Senate from

Chegutu Chegutu (formerly Hartley) is a town in Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe. Location The town is located in Chegutu District, Mashonaland West, in central northern Zimbabwe. It lies in the Hartley Hills , southwest of the capital Harare at a ...

constituency, receiving 23,032 votes against 14,275 for Violet Paneairi Mokoesti of the

Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to: * Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe ** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congress ...

(MDC-

Tsvangirai Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (; ; 10 March 1952 – 14 February 2018) was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He was President of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democratic C ...

). Following this election, in which ZANU-PF won control of the Senate but not the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

, Madzongwe was re-elected as President of the Senate on 25 August 2008, receiving 58 votes.

Gibson Sibanda Gibson Jama Sibanda (1944 – 24 August 2010) was a Zimbabwean politician and trade unionist. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change and at the time of his death was the Vice-President of the faction of the Movement for Demo ...

, whose candidacy was supported by the two MDC factions (MDC-Tsvangirai and MDC-Mutambara), received 28 votes. As of December 2008, she was embroiled in a dispute with an elderly white Zimbabwean farmer from Chegutu. Madzongwe has claimed the property as part of the government policy of redistributing land owned by white farmers, but the farmer has accused her of attempting to take his property by use of illegal means. The case has been referred to a tribunal of African judges established by the 15 nations of the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security coopera ...

regional trade bloc. However, the Tribunal has not been ratified and as such does not hold precedence over Zimbabwean law. This is the deadlock that the two parties were engaged in. Following the July 2013 parliamentary election, in which ZANU-PF won a large majority, Madzongwe was re-elected as President of the Senate on 3 September 2013. She was placed on the

United States sanctions After the failure of the Embargo Act of 1807, the federal government of the United States took little interest in imposing embargoes and economic sanctions against foreign countries until the 20th century. United States trade policy was entirely a ...

list in 2003.Blocking property of persons undermining democratic processes or institutions in Zimbabwe.
/ref> Family * Husband: Forbes Madzongwe (late) * Children: Valentine, Farai and Tendai. Tsitsi (Step-daughter) and Martin (Step-son) * Siblings: Eric Gwanzura (former Senator), Jane Gwanzura (late), Mike Gwanzura (late),

Mabel Tawengwa Mabel is an English female given name derived from the Latin ''amabilis'', "lovable, dear".Reclams Namensbuch, 1987, History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering th ...

née Gwanzura (wife to late

George Tawengwa George Tawengwa (1902 – 13 April 1982) was a businessman who was engaged in transport, retail, and agriculture industries in Rhodesia. Early life and prophecy Tawengwa was born to Chirume and Maria (Mhariya) of the ''Gumbo Madyira'' totem a ...

), Cleopus Gwanzura, Norma Gwanzura, Henry Gwanzura and Jacob Gwanzura (late). * Parents: Enoch (Sireu) Gwanzura and Miriam (Mheria) Gwanzura née Gara.

References

Presidents of the Senate of Zimbabwe Living people 1943 births ZANU–PF politicians {{Zimbabwe-politician-stub