John Maurice "Jock" Kay ( – d) was a
Zimbabwean farmer and politician. A member of the
House of Assembly of Zimbabwe from 1983 to 1990, he served as the
Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement from 1988 to 1990. He entered Parliament as an independent, before joining the ruling
ZANU–PF party in 1987.
Biography
Kay was born in
Manicaland
Manicaland is a Provinces of Zimbabwe, province in eastern Zimbabwe. After Harare Province, it is the country's second-most populous province, with a population of 2.037 million, as of the 2012 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census. After Harare and Bulawa ...
.
In 1948, he purchased 5,000 acres of
virgin land in
Wedza District, near Marandellas (now
Marondera),
Southern Rhodesia.
He named it Chipesa Farm, and grew
maize and
tobacco.
It supported hundreds of workers and their families.
As a farmer, Kay was known as a pioneer of cooperative
irrigation techniques.
Political career
In 1983, Kay ran as an independent candidate for
Parliament in a by-election for the
Makoni
Makoni District is a district in Zimbabwe. The name also refers to a parliamentary constituency with coterminous borders.
Location
The district is located in Manicaland Province, in northeastern Zimbabwe. Its main town, Rusape, with an estimat ...
white roll constituency.
The previous member,
Arthur Tapson, resigned to move to
South Africa.
Makoni, a conservative farming area, was one of 20 seats in Parliament reserved for whites per the
Lancaster House Agreement.
In the election on 30 September, Kay earned 493 votes, defeating
Republican Front candidate
François Smit
François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis.
People with the given name
* Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters"
* Francis II of France, King o ...
with 434 votes.
Kay's election caused Opposition Leader
Ian Smith's conservative Republican Front party to lose its majority of the white roll seats in Parliament.
In 1985, he won reelection to Parliament in Makoni, this time running as a member of the
Independent Zimbabwe Group
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independen ...
, a coalition of white moderates.
Kay, with 707 votes, defeated
Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe
The Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe (CAZ) was the final incarnation of a party formerly called the Republican Front, and prior to that it was called the Rhodesian Front. In the immediate post-independence period, the party sought to promote t ...
candidate Shelagh Gertrude van Reenen with 658 votes. On 28 July 1987, Kay
crossed the aisle to join
Prime Minister Robert Mugabe's ruling
ZANU–PF party, along with two other white MPs,
John Landau
John A. Landau was a member of the Rhodesian parliament, Rhodesian Parliament who served as the Chief Scout (Scouting), Chief Scout of the Scout Association of Rhodesia, which has since become the Scout Association of Zimbabwe. In 1975, he was he ...
and
Tony Read
John Anthony "Tony" Read (born 5 July 1942 in Haydock, Lancashire) is an English former footballer, most noted as a player for Luton Town.
Playing career
After failing to make the grade at Sheffield Wednesday, goalkeeper Read signed for Peterbo ...
.
In September 1987, having achieved the support of 75% of the House of Assembly as required under the
Lancaster House Agreement, the
constitution was amended to abolish the white roll constituencies. A number of new members were co-opted onto the House of Assembly to replace the departing white members. Kay, along with several other white ZANU–PF members, were allowed to keep their seats.
On 22 January 1988, Kay was appointed Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement.
He was one of two white deputy ministers, along with
Charles Duke. His appointment as the deputy of Minister
David Karimanzira
David Ishemunyoro Godi Karimanzira (25 May 1947 - 24 March 2011) was a Zimbabwean politician and cabinet minister.
Background
David Karimanzira studied for a BA degree at the University of Rhodesia from 1971 to 1973. He studied for a PGCE and a ...
, because he was a white farmer himself, was thought to help to assuage the concerns of the country's 4,500 white farmers. However, a
United States State Department private communication at the time reported that his inexperience and "questionable" professional competence caused some farmers to be uncertain as to whether Kay would be able to protect the interests of white commercial farmers. As deputy minister, Kay focused on promoting irrigation and combating soil loss through
erosion.
In the
1990 Zimbabwean general election
General elections were held in Zimbabwe on 23 March 1990 to elect the President and Parliament. They were the first elections to be contested under the amended constitution of 1987, which established an elected executive presidency and abolished ...
, Kay did not run for reelection to Parliament.
Shortly after, he was dropped from the cabinet in a presidential announcement.
Personal life
He was married to Peggy Kay.
Their son,
Iain, is also a politician.
Kay and his wife are buried at Chipesa Farm in Marondera, Zimbabwe.
Electoral history
1983 parliamentary by-election
1985 parliamentary election
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Jock
1920s births
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death missing
20th-century Zimbabwean politicians
Agriculture ministers
Government ministers of Zimbabwe
Independent politicians in Zimbabwe
Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe
People from Mashonaland East Province
People from Marondera
Rhodesian farmers
20th-century farmers
White Rhodesian people
White Zimbabwean politicians
ZANU–PF politicians
Zimbabwean farmers