Paul Themba Nyathi 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 opposition politician, the director of elections for the

Arthur Mutambara Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara (born 25 May 1966)
New Zimbabwe is a

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 ...

and a member of the

Pan-African Parliament The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...

from

. Nyathi was a teacher who joined the

Zimbabwe African People's Union The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with the Zimba ...

Joshua Nkomo Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo (19 June 1917 – 1 July 1999) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and Matabeleland politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1990 until his death in 1999. He founded and led the Zimbabwe African People's ...

, fighting against the white-minority government of

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 ...

. He became a provincial executive member and was arrested and imprisoned in 1976. He was released in 1979 just prior to majority rule and the establishment of

. He was a member of the

ZAPU The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with the Zimba ...

central committee from 1979 until the party's Unity Accord with ZANU in 1987 created ZANU-PF. Nyathi has three sons, Ndumiso, Nicholas and Jabulani, two daughters Zibi and Sibongile. In 1999 Nyathi became a founder member of the opposition

, and a member of the national executive. Nyathi won the

Matabeleland South Matabeleland South is a province in southwestern Zimbabwe. With a population of 683,893 as of the 2012 Zimbabwean census, it is the country's least populous province. After Matabeleland North, it is Zimbabwe's second-least densely populated p ...

constituency of

Gwanda North Gwanda is a town in Zimbabwe. It is the capital of the province of Matabeleland South, one of the ten administrative provinces in the country. It is also the district capital of Gwanda District, one of the seven administrative districts in t ...

for the MDC in the Zimbabwean parliamentary election of 2000 winning 72% of the vote. In 2004 he was elected by the

House of Assembly of Zimbabwe The National Assembly of Zimbabwe, previously the House of Assembly until 2013, is the lower house of the Parliament of Zimbabwe. It was established upon Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 as one of two chambers of parliament. Between the abolition ...

as one of five members of the

where he became rapporteur for the Committee on Gender, Family, Youths, and People with Disabilities. Nyathi contested the

constituency of

Gwanda Gwanda is a town in Zimbabwe. It is the capital of the province of Matabeleland South, one of the ten administrative provinces in the country. It is also the district capital of Gwanda District, one of the seven administrative districts in t ...

in the Zimbabwe parliamentary elections of 2005, where he

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

to the Zanu-PF candidate by only 6%. In October 2005 he supported contesting the Senate elections, a move opposed by MDC leader

Morgan 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 ...

. This led to a split in the MDC, and Nyathi joined the pro-Senate faction of

Arthur Mutambara Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara (born 25 May 1966)
New Zimbabwe is a

Under Siege: Zimbabwe's Human Rights Activists
''Worldpress.org'', 2006-05-07, retrieved 2007-09-07 In December 2006 he was charged with "''distributing subversive literature''", after delivering MDC leaflets which said the security forces were struggling to pay for food because they are poorly paid.
''Independent on Line'' via ''zimbabwesituation.com'', 2006-12-13, retrieved 2007-09-07

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyathi, Paul Living people Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Zimbabwe Members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe Year of birth missing (living people)

See also

References